Thing 2.0? This Creepy-Cute Robot Walks on Its Fingers
Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an autonomous robotic hand inspired by the character Thing from The Addams Family that walks on its fingertips. The device uses reinforcement learning to navigate various surfaces and perform tasks like pressing keys or pushing objects without the need for a supporting arm. This innovation aims to enhance the versatility of future robots by allowing them to operate effectively in confined or human-centric spaces.
- ▪The robotic hand weighs 1.8 pounds and features five fingers with 20 actuator joints powered by a compact on-board module.
- ▪Reinforcement learning was used to train the hand to balance and move, accounting for the non-identical nature of the fingers and the tilted palm.
- ▪The prototype successfully navigated 14 different indoor and outdoor surfaces, including asphalt, grass, and damaged stone.
- ▪The hand demonstrated the ability to press keyboard commands, push small objects, and even complete a level of the video game Sokoban.
- ▪The researchers intend to integrate this mobile manipulator into larger robotic systems to improve their functionality in restricted workspaces.
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| Original publisher | Gizmodo |
| Canonical URL | https://gizmodo.com/thing-2-0-this-creepy-cute-robot-walks-on-its-fingers-2000815604 |
| Publication time | Tue, 22 Sep 2026 20:15:55 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-22T20:18:57.405Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-22T20:18:57.405Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
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| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | HJl-kBuv6UXE · 1 stories |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Snap, snap. There’s a new member of the Addams-inspired robotics family, and it’s got a very unusual way of getting around. Shaped like a disembodied hand and walking on its own fingers, this quirky robot brings Thing to life in a whole new way. A team of researchers from Soft Robotics Lab, ETH Zurich, built an autonomous robotic hand that uses its fingers as legs. Inspired by Thing from The Addams Family, the robot learned how to navigate across different surfaces, press keys, push small objects, and recover from falls, all with the same set of fingers it walks on.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Gizmodo.
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