A new breed of robots with humanoid hands capable of performing delicate tasks such as picking soft fruit has been made possible after a technological breakthrough from scientists at Stanford University.

Researchers in the US have developed electronic gloves designed to give robots an improved ability to touch and grasp delicate objects in a similar way to human hands.

The technology is likely to be useful for companies developing farming robots, which need to be able to handle delicate crops without damaging them.

Professor Zhenan Bao, a chemical engineer, and her team developed a glove which includes sensors in its fingertips that measure the intensity and direction of pressure. The glove imitates the way that layers of skin in the human hand work together to make them sensitive to pressure.

"This technology puts us on a path to one day giving robots the sort of sensing capabilities found in human skin,” Professor Bao said.

Robots are skilled at basic tasks but struggle to judge the correct amount of pressure needed to exert when lifting up delicate items. This means that to date they have been largely unsuitable for use in agriculture, except in cases where crops are well-suited to rough handling.

Professor Bao’s glove was used to touch a berry without squashing it and could also lift a ping pong ball without crushing it.