Ok, so how soon til the Terminators kill us all?

Quite unimpressive considering how easily a can can be squeezed from the side like that and I wouldn't call it crushed since it didn't do much more than dent it. I remember seeing thigs like this in the 80's. I remember seeing kits in the back of magazines that could do as much as this can.

seemed pretty weak, is it a super strength tin can?

Crush? My two year old's plastic toy claw (looks like the thing the traffic violaters use to pick up garbage) can squeeze harder than that.

I bet it will be Americans who invent the first robot that can crush a can on it's head.

it's about as strong as mr. burns

Hmmmm...Tokyo Institute for Technology, what would the acronym for that school be...

-jamz

Is anyone else disapointed in our new robot overlords? How are they supposed to subdue us if they can't crush a can?

Your all missing the point, it is a hand that is programmed to be only as strong as a humans, it learns from the input the human user is providing.

If you cranked it up it would squish the can.

It looks wussy because those aren't aluminum cans. Unlike the U.S. most other countries in the world still use steel for pop cans. They're about as rigid a soup can.

theOquistador

ever been to Japan? the cans are just as thin as ours. And they do not use steel.

So was that generic japanese soda? My parents used to buy those yellow and black cans of pop back in the 70's. The worst taste evar. Good times...good times.

Eugene:

Just keep in mind these are not the paper-thin american cans.
If you crush one of these on your head you'll end up with a slightly bent can, and one hell of a headache.

Now I have a preview of what to expect when I see a drunk robot walking down the street.

The issue is not a hand STRONG enough to crush a can, but a hand gentle enough to hold a baby. I guess the true GIzmodo-style test is, would you be willing to use it if you were an amputee standing at a urinal.

those are regular aluminum cans, you can see the ALUMI written in japanese. I think they use steel cans mostly for drinks that are meant to be served hot and some beers.

actually on second thought, even aluminum cans are slightly thicker in japan...

The point of the video is to show that this robot hand can crush a can AS WELL AS pick up small objects and handle objects delicately. This was previously thought to be impossible. These students came up with a wire system that can do both.

Also, they did in fact use steel for pop cans back in the day. I can't imagine any company using steel for a pop can these days since steel is not cheap.

The first thing that comes to mind is "JAX" from "Mortal kombat"..of course the "Steve Irkel" Version.