Here is an inflatable robotic hand that gives amputees real-time tactile control. It weighs only half a pound and is made with components worth around $500. Engineers at MIT and Shanghai Jiao Tong University are behind this artificial limb. As MIT explains:
Like the squishy android (from Big Hero 6), the team’s artificial hand is made from soft, stretchy material — in this case, the commercial elastomer EcoFlex. The prosthetic comprises five balloon-like fingers, each embedded with segments of fiber, similar to articulated bones in actual fingers. The bendy digits are connected to a 3-D-printed “palm,” shaped like a human hand
Researchers used a pneumatic system to inflate fingers and bend them in specific positions, instead of using motors. EMG sensors are used to send signals to it. The above video shows it in action.
