Bridging the Gap: How Touchlab is Bringing Human-Like Touch to ARIA’s Robot Dexterity Programme
- Marta Garcia Caberol
- Nov 14
- 3 min read
Introduction: The Hardware Bottleneck
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has achieved incredible advancements in the last five years; however, physical robotic capabilities frequently encounter a hardware bottleneck. While the "brains" of robots (their software and AI) are becoming more sophisticated, the physical components—specifically grippers and hands—have lagged behind in development.
Current robotic models rely too much on vision sensors, which significantly hinders their dexterity for tasks that absolutely require touch, such as picking up keys from your pocket or searching within a household drawer. As a result, today's robots still lack the flexibility, speed, and precision of human manipulation, rendering them ineffective for many of the most quotidian tasks where we need them most.
The UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) is confronting this challenge with a significant investment through its Robot Dexterity programme, empowering UK's research and innovation.
The ARIA Robot Dexterity Programme
ARIA has allocated £57 million to this program, which is dedicated to transforming robotic capabilities. Its core objective is to unlock the full potential of robotic dexterity and create vastly more capable and useful machines that can ease labor deficits and boost human prosperity.
This mission is critical given the growing global need for automation in physically demanding sectors. The program is directed by visual neuroscientist Jenny Read, whose work focuses on building smarter bodies for robots through new modes of sensing, transmission of sensory information, and actuation through hardware advances.
You can read more about the full initiative on the Robot Dexterity opportunity page and the other awarded projects involved on the Meet the Creators page.
Touchlab ARIA Robot Dexterity: Our GRIT Project
We are thrilled to share that Touchlab has been selected as an R&D Creator in the ARIA Robot Dexterity programme!
With a £1 million contract, we will be developing:
GRIT: Generalisable Robot Intelligence in Tactile scenarios
The Touchlab team is focused on creating a modular, high-resolution, generalisable, and tactile electronic skin for robot hands. This challenge is led by Principal Investigator Dr. Vasilis Mitrakos, who brings over a decade of experience in MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) to this critical area.
We aim to transform robot manipulation by retrofitting robot hands with a scalable, thin-film e-skin that is fully integrated with local readout electronics. This innovation gives robot hands entirely new capabilities, providing machines with the high sensitivity and sensory information they need to manipulate complex, delicate, or varied objects with human-level control.
This makes our GRIT project a crucial component of the programme's Novel Hardware focus. Our vision is to enable robots to interact with the world with high sensitivity, unlocking new possibilities in automation, healthcare, and beyond. We are proud to join this inspiring community!
The Programme's Focus Areas
The broader ARIA program funds cutting-edge research across robot hardware and advanced simulation. The investment is split into three Technical Areas (TAs):
TA1: Novel Hardware: This is the core engineering challenge, where Touchlab's GRIT project is focused, funding new approaches to hardware necessary for complex manipulation.
TA2: Socioeconomic Considerations: Exploring the wider societal and economic considerations of increased automation.
TA3: Modularity, Interoperability, Common Standards: Facilitating common standards and component interchangeability across the robotics industry to accelerate progress.
The Future of Touch
ARIA’s Robot Dexterity programme recognises that the future of robotics hinges on creating more agile, sensitive, and capable physical machines. As a key partner, Touchlab is pioneering the ability for robots to feel their world, realising the full potential of more dexterous robots to advance human productivity and welfare. We can't wait to share more about our progress on GRIT!
Stay Connected to the Future of Robotics!
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