High-Speed Robot Hand - Boing Boing

High-Speed Robot Hand - Boing Boing

Robotic hand nearly identical to a human one (w/ Video)

Robotic hand nearly identical to a human one (w/ Video): To design the DART hand, the researchers began by investigating the physiology of the human hand, including its musculoskeletal structure, range of motion, and grasp force. The human hand has about 40 muscles that provide 23 degrees of freedom in the hand and wrist. To replicate these muscles, the researchers used servo motors and wires extending throughout the robotic hand, wrist, and forearm. The robotic hand encompassed a total of 19 motors and achieved 19 degrees of freedom.

Video: Scientists Smash a Super-Tough Robotic Hand With a Hammer | Popular Science

Video: Scientists Smash a Super-Tough Robotic Hand With a Hammer | Popular Science: "The hand has the shape and size of a human hand, with five articulated fingers powered by a web of 38 tendons, each connected to an individual motor on the forearm.
The main capability that makes the DLR hand different from other robot hands is that it can control its stiffness. The motors can tension the tendons, allowing the hand to absorb violent shocks. In one test, the researchers hit the hand with a baseball bat-a 66 G impact. The hand survived [...]
The hand has a total of 19 degrees of freedom, or only one less than the real thing, and it can move the fingers independently to grasp varied objects. The fingers can exert a force of up to 30 newtons at the fingertips, which makes this hand also one of the strongest ever built."

How to Make Robotic Hands

Technology Review: Videos: "Aaron Dollar, a 2010 TR35 member, demonstrates in his lab at Yale University how he makes inexpensive and flexible plastic hands that robots can use to grasp a wide range of objects."