ETH Zurich Researchers Develop Robotic Hand Capable of Walking and Manipulation

By ASR Newsdesk · 8 Oct 2026, 15:00 UTC

Researchers at ETH Zurich have created a self-contained robot from an off-the-shelf robotic hand that walks on its fingertips. This development allows the hand to manipulate its environment while moving. The team utilized reinforcement learning in simulation to train the hand for walking, adapting methods for its asymmetrical design. The hand has demonstrated crawling across various surfaces, turning, righting itself after falling, and autonomously pushing a cube to a target. This innovation could enable robots to operate controls and handle objects in confined spaces inaccessible to traditional robot arms.