[http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/08/handroid.jpg](http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/24/itks-handroid-a-softer-gentler-robotic-hand-video/)
Most [robotic hands](http://www.engadget.com/tag/robotic+hand/) are built with a series of individual motors in each joint, making them heavy, expensive and prone to gripping everything with the subtlety of a vice. Japan's ITK thinks it's solved those problems with Handroid -- designed with cords that mimic the muscles in our meat-paws. No motors mean it's far lighter than the standard *[Terminator](http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/25/german-robot-hand-takes-a-licking-apparently-keeps-on-ticking/) *design, and it's controlled with a glove that allows it to mirror the operator's movement as it happens. ITK wants to sell Handroid for the bargain price of $6,500 by 2013 for use in environments too dangerous for humans, but because it's so light and cheap it could also see use as a medical prosthesis. You can see how the device works in the video after the break.
Continue reading ITK’s Handroid: a softer, gentler robotic hand (video)
ITK’s Handroid: a softer, gentler robotic hand (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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