Sharpa's humanoid peels apples autonomously with new robot hands

Singapore-based robotics company Sharpa has developed a humanoid robot capable of autonomously peeling apples using dual, human-like hands, marking a significant advance in robotic dexterity and contact-rich manipulation. The robot is powered by a novel system called MoDE-VLA (Mixture of Dexterous Experts), which integrates vision, language, force, and tactile sensing through specialized expert modules. This approach allows the robot to perform complex, bimanual tasks with stable and precise control by combining high-level human input with AI-managed finger coordination. Sharpa’s flagship dexterous hand, SharpaWave, featuring 22 active degrees of freedom, has recently entered mass production, promising near-human levels of manipulation. The breakthrough addresses longstanding challenges in robotics, where tasks requiring fine motor skills and continuous sensory feedback—such as peeling an apple—have been difficult to automate. The system uses a two-part framework: IMCopilot, a reinforcement learning–trained set of micro-skills that manage delicate in-hand manipulation under shared