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    "story_id": "mp-2026-09-02-027",
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    "section": "robotics",
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    "headline": "The Robot Threw What It Never Grasped",
    "slug": "the-robot-threw-what-it-never-grasped",
    "dek": "A learned trajectory policy uses sliding and rolling contact to launch heavy, large or deformable objects beyond pick-and-place reach.",
    "summary": "A learned trajectory policy uses sliding and rolling contact to launch heavy, large or deformable objects beyond pick-and-place reach.",
    "body_text": "The policy plans joint-jerk trajectories without an analytical contact model, then uses system identification and uncertainty training for transfer. In simulation it reported 99% success, and zero-shot tests on a UR5e threw items up to 790 grams toward targets as far as 3.5 meters with 97% real-world success. Sensitivity remained high to dynamic friction, an important limit of the sliding release.",
    "why_it_matters": "A learned trajectory policy uses sliding and rolling contact to launch heavy, large or deformable objects beyond pick-and-place reach.",
    "limitations": [],
    "importance": 8,
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    "first_published_at": "2026-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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    "tags": [
      "robot throwing",
      "reinforcement learning",
      "non-prehensile manipulation"
    ],
    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-09-02-016",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2609.00771",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
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  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "The Robot Threw What It Never Grasped",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-09-02T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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