Measuring out 20 grams of salt sounds easy – until a robot has to do it.

Ahead of the second World Humanoid Robot Games, taking place in Beijing from August 22 to 26, a Wuhan University team is training a 10-degree-of-freedom robotic hand to grasp a spoon, locate a scale and precisely measure out salt in just over 30 seconds.

The robotic hand can already handle basic full-hand grips, but executing light and precise fingertip movements remains a major challenge. So how close is it to matching the human hand – and where could we see this technology put to work first?