[Edaily Reporter Shin Yeong-bin ] SamsungElectronics(005930)is building foundational technology that can be applied to household humanoid robots designed to assist with chores.

According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 11th, Samsung’s Japan Research Institute is developing a robotic hand capable of grasping greasy dishes, while the AI Center of the Device Solutions (DS) Division and the Beijing Research Institute are developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology that determines movements based on the situation.

‘Waterproof Robotic Hand’ That Grabs Greasy Plates

Researchers at Samsung’s Japan Research Lab published a paper titled “Development of a Robotic Hand Equipped with Waterproof and Adhesive Functions” in the Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan last month. Their goal is to create a hand capable of gripping slippery objects and washing itself with water, taking into account situations where hands get wet or greasy while cooking or cleaning.

The research team had robots—such as humanoids—that perform cooking and cleaning tasks in the home in mind. Since hands often get wet or greasy while doing housework, they reasoned that a robotic hand must also be capable of cleaning itself.

The prototype features a small pump inside the fingers and suction pads attached to the fingertips. It grasps slippery objects by drawing in air to adhere to the object’s surface. The suction pads are equipped with a filter that allows air to pass through while blocking water. The joints are covered with rubber, and the remaining parts are covered with plastic.

The research team successfully conducted tests in which the suction pads lifted plates and PET bottles that were wet with water or oil. They also mounted the prototype on a robotic arm to move a 75-gram plate covered in oil to another location.

In waterproof testing, 12.5 liters of water per minute were sprayed from four directions at a distance of approximately 3 meters for more than 3 minutes. After the test, no moisture was found inside, and the hand’s opening and closing movements functioned normally. These results were obtained under conditions equivalent to “IPX5,” but this does not imply that the device has received official certification.

Samsung’s Japan Research Institute is developing the robotic hand, sensors, and actuators in collaboration with the company’s headquarters research organization. On its official website, the company cited household chores and complex assembly tasks in factories as the intended applications for this robotic technology.

DS Division and China Research Institute Jointly Develop ‘Robot Brain’

Researchers from SamsungElectronics’ DS Division AI Center and Beijing Research Institute published a paper last month on “H-VLA,” a vision-language-action (VLA) model for robot control. VLA is an AI that generates robot movements based on camera footage and human instructions.

H-VLA separates action decision-making from motion generation. First, it determines where to grasp or release an object, and then a separate model calculates the detailed movements of the robotic arm. This design allows the system to adapt even when the object’s position or the surrounding environment differs from what was observed during training.

The research team tested tasks such as picking up a bottle and passing it to the other arm, as well as lifting a pot with both arms, using the Agilex dual-arm robot. Under conditions where the object’s position differed from that during training, the average success rate reached 83%. By comparison, the best-performing model among the competitors achieved only 36%.

These results were evaluated based on the tasks and conditions defined by the research team. The team noted that precise finger manipulation and tasks requiring continuous contact with objects remain challenges.

Last month at the Samsung AI Forum, SamsungElectronics outlined a strategy to first validate robot technology in manufacturing settings before expanding its application to the home. Chris Hauser, Head of the Robotics Lab at SamsungElectronics’ RX Business Promotion Office, said, “We will prioritize factory automation and use that as a stepping stone to provide home assistant robots that help with household chores and caregiving.”