Tactile Robotic Hand with Air Muscles

Written by: Alan Parekh at 5:42 am. Filed under Complex Hacks, Cool Gadgets, Electronic Hacks

Looks like this robotic hand is able to do almost anything that a human hand can do. The Tactile Robotic Hand is powered with Air Muscles which appear to be very strong and versatile.

Video after the jump.

“The Shadow Hand is the closest robot Hand to the human Hand available. It provides 24 movements, allowing a direct mapping from a human to the robot. The Shadow Hand has integrated sensing and position control, allowing precise control from off-board computers, or integration into your existing robot platform. The Shadow Hand contains an integrated bank of 40 Air Muscles which make it move. The muscles are compliant, which allows the Hand to be used around soft or fragile objects. The Shadow Hand can be fitted with touch sensing on the fingertips, offering sensitivity sufficient to detect a single small coin.

The Shadow Air Muscle is a simple yet powerful device for providing a pulling force. It behaves in a very similar way to a biological muscle. When actuated with a supply of compressed air, they contract by up to 40% of its original length. The force it provides decreases as it contracts, and the first few percent of the contraction is very powerful indeed. The simplest use of an Air Muscle is to move a lever. One muscle will pull the lever in one direction, and a spring can return it. Two muscles will allow the lever to be pulled in either direction, with considerable force. Because the muscle contracts over a known distance, it can be used to provide a safe movement: there is no need to ensure that the lever is not going to be rotated beyond its end-stop, because the muscle will only move the lever to its set up angle.”

Via: Robot Gossip

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10 Responses to “Tactile Robotic Hand with Air Muscles”

pm Says:
July 25th, 2007
Wow, they look damn like the Muskles od the NS5 in the film “I Robot”
great engineering-work!
joebob Says:
July 25th, 2007
I saw somebody use this kinda thing, only with legos.
joebob Says:
July 25th, 2007
here it is http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=33908
Alan Parekh Says:
July 25th, 2007
Thanks for the link joebob.
Planeta IPLegal » Shadow’s Robotic Hand Uses Air Muscles to Grip Objects Says:
July 26th, 2007
[…] [via HackedGadgets] […]
Rich Walker Says:
July 26th, 2007
Hi from Shadow,

When the “I Robot” film came out, we were amazed at how much the muscles looked like the ones we’ve been developing for the last 20 or more years :->

The muscles are great for making robots which are biologically-inspired. And, of course, the Hand is a really important step in making general-purpose robots

cheers, Rich.
Chemi Techeblog » Shadow’s Robotic Hand Uses Air Muscles to Grip Objects Says:
July 26th, 2007
[…] [via HackedGadgets] […]
hash Says:
July 26th, 2007
we’re one step closer to terminators being created!

actually no, but this is the best robotic hand ive seen
tanntraad Says:
July 26th, 2007
Gotta show you mine;) http://www.instructables.com/id/EFNL6P1F2CRK8EF/
james-on a mission Says:
July 3rd, 2008
hey
real important and i need some advise
where can i find the latest robotic techniques online??