> no idea what force has to be exerted by the robot to keep the box from slipping...
I would assume that if it's anything like real chopsticks then the answer would be relatively little.
If you use chopsticks correctly, you can can use surprisingly little force to pick up realistically heavy objects. I believe the physics explanation of this ability is based around the concept of levers.
there are slick/slippery food pieces that can be extremely difficult to pick up with chopsticks. better/more stable chopstick skills (like this robot has) definitely help, but still a part of the problem is caused by the indirectly applied force on the two thin sticks. 3 or 4 chopsticks would be improvements.
hmm, just realized, I've been on a kick to learn to do things left-handed so if I lose by abilities with my right hand I'll be ready. Or just becuase it's annoying to asymmetrical. So, I just realized if I learn to use chopsticks with my left hand, I will have 4 chopsticks at my disposal. I will be a force at the dinner table with the ha cheung.
> there are slick/slippery food pieces that can be extremely difficult to pick up with chopsticks. better/more stable chopstick skills
As you say, slick/slippery being difficult comes down to chopstick skills.
The ultimate skills test is whether you can pick up something slick/slippery with Korean chopsticks.
Why Korean? Korean chopsticks are both thin and generally manufactured in polished stainless steel. Which makes them a greater dexterity challenge than the Chinese or Japanese formats.
I have seen a few life long chopsticks Chinese users make a mess of themselves eating food with chopsticks.
I now assume that at some point you're going to lose your food with them and more regularly than a fork
westerner here, i once read a story (that could very well be apocryphal, but the moral is true nonetheless) that the ancient east asians had invented metal spoons and such, but with ancient metallurgy the metals would impart a taste in your mouth. So, chopsticks were invented to allow the food to be placed in the mouth without any "foreign object" contact. That tremendously increased my enjoyment of eating with chopsticks, and made me not care about the inconvenience.
I have a speaks-chinese assistant, and when we have asian lunches I always use use chopsticks and she uses spoons, and also thinks I'm crazy. By coincidence I just told her this story last week (because I didn't want her to think I'm an effete weebo or something) and afterward she mockingly bowed to me and said "thank you round eye for teaching me the old ways"
Food has texture and a bottom to leverage, so unless the robots are also able to scoot under and object to lift it, using only the sides can require enough force to crush some boxes,
I would assume that if it's anything like real chopsticks then the answer would be relatively little.
If you use chopsticks correctly, you can can use surprisingly little force to pick up realistically heavy objects. I believe the physics explanation of this ability is based around the concept of levers.