Kenneth Shaw

Carnegie Mellon University

Papers

10

Total Citations

178

H-Index

5

About

Kenneth Shaw is a robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of dexterous manipulation, robot learning, and accessible hardware design. He is perhaps best known for developing the **LEAP Hand**, a low-cost, anthropomorphic robotic hand that can be assembled in under four hours for approximately $2,000 USD — a landmark contribution that has democratized dexterous robotics research and garnered 83 citations since its 2023 release. His follow-up, LEAP Hand V2, extends this work with a hybrid rigid-soft design that more faithfully replicates human hand capabilities. Shaw has also pioneered methods for teaching robots dexterous skills by learning directly from human demonstrations, particularly through internet videos. His "Robotic Telekinesis" system (57 citations) enables real-time robot hand control using only a single RGB camera, while VideoDex and related work leverage large-scale YouTube data to guide robotic learning without requiring costly real-world data collection. Together, these contributions address a fundamental bottleneck in robotics: acquiring rich manipulation experience safely and efficiently. More recently, Shaw has explored open-world mobile manipulation and fine-tuning policies for deformable objects, broadening the scope of where capable robot hands can operate. His body of work reflects a consistent vision — making dexterous robotics more practical, scalable, and accessible for the broader research community.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

5
H-Index
10
Papers
178
Total Citations
18
Avg Citations/Paper
🏆 Most Cited Paper
LEAP Hand: Low-Cost, Efficient, and Anthropomorphic Hand for Robot Learning
83 citations · 2023
📈 Most Prolific Year: 2023 (3 Papers)
🤝 Key Collaborators: 15
🏛 Institutions: Carnegie Mellon University

Top Papers

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Key Collaborators

Contact & Links

Available for collaboration
Content generated · 14 days ago