Ever wanted a robotic hand? Well unless you’re a Terminator, or this guy, you probably don’t have one. Well, thanks to 3D printing, and the wonders of Kickstarter, you can soon own your own robot hand without breaking the bank.
Initially developed under the Anthromod project we mentioned last year, Christopher Chappell and Easton LaChapelle’s robot hand is now available for order via a Kickstarter campaign. The humanoid hand is designed to offer six degrees-of-freedom, including full movement of the thumb, four fingers and wrist. The arm is controlled using tendons, which are moved using five servos. The current design uses ABS plastic, but they are hopeful that future iterations will be produced using nylon, which is biocompatible, and safer for use in prostheses.
They’re targeting a sub-$1000 (USD) pricepoint for a completely functional robotic arm, significantly less than robotic arms being sold for medical and research purposes today. During the Kickstarter campaign (which runs through 5am EDT on 4/10/13) you can get a kit with complete electronics for the forearm, hand and fingers for £270 (~$411 USD). For £300 (~$467 USD), you can get a fully-assembled version, and for £600 (~$914 USD), you can upgrade to a version with a wireless control glove.
Now here is a robot that is worth drooling over – after all, mechanical items that fly around, zipping here and there definitely help set the tone for a tech and gadget blog like ours. The BionicOpter is a robotic version of the dragonfly, where it is inspired by one of nature’s more interesting insects. Dragonflies are able to hover in mid-air naturally, maneuver in all directions, as well as glide without having to beat its wings, and the good people over at the German pneumatic and electric automation company known as Festo decided to challenge themselves by coming up with the BionicOpter.
