Grasping a Cup: Why AI May Be Solving the Wrong Problem

One of the most common benchmark tasks in robotics and embodied AI is grasping a cup.

At first glance, this seems reasonable. A robot must identify the cup, determine its location, calculate the appropriate grip force, lift it without dropping or crushing it, and place it where intended. Success is typically measured by whether the cup is successfully manipulated.

This approach has driven decades of impressive engineering advances.

But there is another way to view the problem.

The Engineering Representation

Current robotics systems often represent the task as a sequence such as:

• Detect cup

• Plan grasp

• Apply grip force

• Lift

• Move

• Place

• Release

Each step can be measured, optimized, and benchmarked.

This representation has been extremely useful for developing robotic manipulation.

However, it also assumes that grasping is the task.

The Human Representation

Humans rarely think:

"

...