Inflatable Robotic Hand Provides Real Time Tactile Control #WearableWednesday
MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University engineers have tested this wearable that allows users to zip a suitcase, shake hands, pet a cat, pour from a carton and more! From MIT:
The researchers found the prosthetic, designed with a system for tactile feedback, restored some primitive sensation in a volunteer’s residual limb. The new design is also surprisingly durable, quickly recovering after being struck with a hammer or run over with a car.
The smart hand is soft and elastic, and weighs about half a pound. Its components total around $500 — a fraction of the weight and material cost associated with more rigid smart limbs.
“This is not a product yet, but the performance is already similar or superior to existing neuroprosthetics, which we’re excited about,” says Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at MIT. “There’s huge potential to make this soft prosthetic very low cost, for low-income families who have suffered from amputation.”
Read more and see more from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on YouTube
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