Dexterous Hand Masters 72-Step Factory Screwdriving, Opening New Phase in Robotic Manipulation

Leaderobot reports that a dexterous robotic hand has executed a 72-step, multi-process screwdriving operation in a factory environment. The demonstration moves beyond simple pick-and-place to sustained, high-precision assembly work. The hand coordinated grasping, positioning, and tool use across dozens of sequential steps, showing that dexterous manipulation can handle real production tasks rather than isolated lab benchmarks. This milestone suggests the field is entering its 'second half,' where the focus shifts from basic capability demonstrations to reliability, repeatability, and integration with factory workflows. The result highlights progress in hardware design, control algorithms, and task planning for embodied AI systems. While details on success rates and cycle times remain limited, the 72-step sequence indicates that dexterous hands are maturing toward practical deployment in manufacturing.