17 June 2026
Combining Psyonic’s prosthetic hand with ABB’s GoFa cobot will help to tackle the challenge of achieving effective dexterity in industrial applications
ABB Robotics is collaborating with the California bionic prosthetics developer, Psyonic, to “revolutionise” robotic gripping and dexterity using a new approach that uses real-world manipulation data from human prosthetics. By combining Psyonic’s Ability Hand prosthetic with ABB’s GoFa collaborative robot, the two companies will explore how touch and motion data generated by human prosthetic use can be used to train robots to perform delicate, variable tasks that have traditionally been difficult to automate.
“Human dexterity and the instinctive understanding of how to handle different objects is one of the most difficult things to replicate in industrial-grade robotics – but it’s a fundamental need for truly autonomous and versatile robots,” says ABB Robotics president, Marc Segura. “As we develop the next generation physical AI, robots will learn and understand the world as we do. This collaboration with Psyonic will help to close the long-standing gap between human and robot dexterity, opening up new possibilities for a wide range of industries.”
Grasping and dexterity are central to Autonomous Versatile Robotics (AVR) – ABB Robotics’ vision for robots that can sense, reason, move and handle objects precisely in dynamic environments. They are also critical to advancing physical AI in industry: robotic systems that can learn from real-world interaction and apply that intelligence with industrial-level reliability.
The collaboration will explore applications across numerous industries. By enabling robots to take on tasks that are repetitive, ergonomically challenging or difficult to perform consistently at scale, ABB and Psyonic say they can help people and robots to work together more effectively, while improving productivity, flexibility and safety.
Psyonic is working closely with ABB Robotics’ R&D team on integration and development, exploring how touch-enabled manipulation can support next-generation autonomous robotics applications.
Psyonic’s Ability Hand, originally developed for prosthetic use, combines myoelectric control, touch sensing and compliant mechanics in a lightweight, multi-articulating design. Pressure sensors and a vibration feedback system allow users to detect contact, gripping forces, and release, while flexible fingers adapt to irregular and deformable objects. The prosthetic is claimed to be the fastest dexterous hand on the market, and the first to deliver touch feedback, allowing intuitive physical interaction for human users and generating rich datasets to improve robotic dexterity.
“Dexterous manipulation is ultimately a data challenge as much as a hardware challenge,” says Psyonic’s founder and CEO, Dr Aadeel Akhtar. “By using the same Ability Hand on people and on robots, we can capture high-fidelity real-world data on movement, contact and grip force, then use that to train robotic systems more effectively. Integrating with ABB Robotics’ robotics platform allows us to expand into more environments and unlock the level of dexterity needed to take on the hardest challenges in automation.”
ABB’s GoFa cobot provides the accuracy and repeatability needed for industrial applications, ensuring that subtle variations in grip force, finger positioning and movement can be executed and evaluated consistently. This level of precision is critical for translating human-derived manipulation data into reliable robotic performance across complex, variable tasks.
The collaboration will evaluate how this combined capability can be applied across industrial use cases where traditional gripping technologies struggle with variability, fragility or complexity – such as handling irregular or delicate objects. According to the International Federation of Robotics, advanced gripping and digital integration can cut engineering time by up to 30%, underlining the importance of end-of-arm tooling in accelerating deployment and improving automation ROI.
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