FILE PHOTO: A logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is seen at its headquarters in Hsinchu
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is seen at its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Eason Lam/File Photo
![<p>A team of researchers from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (<span class="caps">NUT</span>) have developed a pair of robotic arms capable of tackling one of the hardest tasks known to man. Assembling Ikea furniture.</p><p>This video shows the two robotic arms get to grips with an Ikea Stefan chair as part of a study published on April 18 in the journal <a href="http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/3/17/eaat6385" target="_blank">Science Robotics</a>. The robots were able to autonomously construct the chair in 20 minutes using the pressure sensors, 3D cameras and the industrial gripper arms.</p><p>“Dexterous manipulation is…[a] marker of human intelligence. Yet, demonstrations<br />of autonomous manipulation have been so far restricted to elementary tasks,” said the research team led by professor Quang-Cuong Pham in a statement released by <span class="caps">NUT</span>. “A main reason is that complex manipulation tasks in human environments require mastering multiple skills—from visual and tactile localization to motion planning, force control, and bimanual coordination—and managing their complex interactions.”</p><p>The research team said the study opened the possibility for robots to work autonomously in new fields in manufacturing or logistics where traditional robotic assembly lines are not viable. Credit: Nanyang Technological University Singapore via Storyful</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/E3Pa3EGCL8T2l5Q2oXXp7g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NjUwO2g9MzY2/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.storyful.com/93ef76c6f17e4e3902615d04a64ae146)