New robotic hand holds promise, experts say
Researchers point to lighter weight in helping to cut cost
ROME — Italian researchers on Thursday unveiled a new robotic hand they say allows users to grip objects more naturally and features a design that will lower the price significantly.
The Hennes robotic hand has a simpler mechanical design compared with other such myoelectric prosthetics, characterized by sensors that react to electrical signals from the brain to the muscles, said researcher Lorenzo De Michieli.
He helped develop the hand in a lab backed by the Italian Institute of Technology and the INAIL state workers’ compensation prosthetic center.
The Hennes has only one motor that controls all five fingers, making it lighter, cheaper and more able to adapt to the shape of objects.
Researchers plan to bring it to market in Europe next year with a target price of $11,900, about 30 percent below current prices.
Arun Jayaraman, a robotic prosthetic researcher at the Shirley Ryan Ability lab in Chicago, said the lighter design could help overcome some resistance in users to the myoelectric hands, which have been too heavy for some.
Italian researchers say the Hennes weighs about the same as a human hand.
Italian retiree Marco Zambelli has been testing the Hennes hand for the last three years. He lost his hand in a work accident while a teenager. A video shows him removing bills from an ATM, grasping a pencil and driving a stick-shift car.
“Driving, for example, is not a problem,” Zambelli, 64, said. “I think anyone who’s not looking with an expert eye would find it difficult to spot that it’s an artificial hand.”