The superhuman robot hand that learns from its mistakes

But a new super-dexterous robot hand can "learn" how to perfect new abilities over time -- without any help from its three human overlords at the University of Washington. The trio of researchers presented their handiwork, called the Adroit manipulation system, on Tuesday at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Stockholm. The Adroit system gets the world one step closer to the Jetsons' housekeeper robot Rosie: hardware that performs better than human bodies, yet is controlled by a software "brain" that learns like a human mind. The researchers say their creation has potentially huge implications for the robotics field, and for any industry that requires a variety of complex tasks -- from space exploration to healthcare to automated butlers. Manipulating robot hands to perform fine-motor tasks like catching a stick, rotating a tube or rolling a block "is one of the biggest problems in robotics," lead researcher Vikash Kumar told CNNMoney.