With one small step for AI, Chinese scientists make giant leap for humanity

Imagine a robot that could tie your shoelaces to the perfect degree of tightness, or a robotic hand capable of performing abdominal surgery and then suturing the wound with impeccable precision.

You might assume these feats would rely on complex electronic sensors, and yet a breakthrough by Chinese scientists has made it possible for robots to rival the skill of experienced surgeons – even with their “eyes closed” – using just a simple knot.

The achievement, by an interdisciplinary team from Zhejiang University in eastern China, was outlined in a paper chosen for the cover story of the peer-reviewed journal Nature published on November 27.

The question of how to precisely control and send force through robotic arms in the crucial surgical steps of suturing and knot-tying has long perplexed researchers in the fields of medicine and robotics.

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The commonly used surgical knots are fixed so that once secured they are difficult to adjust. However, sutures that are too tight can restrict blood flow, while if they are loose, wounds can gape and leak.

South China Morning Post