New Capabilities for Grasp-Assisting Gloves

NASA is developing the next generation of spacesuits for future missions.

Advanced Humanoid Robotic Hand Technologies

The R2 hand and forearm assembly is designed in a modular fashion, enabling rapid replacement of components and sub-assemblies.

NASA’s Robotic Glove Finds its Fit

NASA’s grip-strengthening glove technology aims to reduce workplace stress injuries.

Smart Artificial Hand for Amputees

Neuroprosthetic technology combines robotic control with the user’s voluntary control.

3D Hand-Sensing Wristband

The technology has possible uses in monitoring disorders that affect fine motor skills such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Device Detects Which Hand Gesture a Person Intends to Make

The device paves the way for better prosthetic control and seamless interaction with electronic devices.

Liquid Metal Sensors and AI Help Prosthetic Hands “Feel”

The technology could improve the control of prosthetic hands and provide a sense of “touch” for amputees.

Imitating Human Hands to Make Better Sensors

This work could help severely injured people, such as soldiers, regain the ability to control their movements.

Human-Like Hands with Flexible, Hybrid Pneumatic Actuators

These hands, with a large grasping force, enable safer human-robot interactions.

Technology Aids Surgeon-Guided Robotic Hands

This method enables users to control their robotic fingers precisely enough to gently land on fragile surfaces.

Glove-Like Device Mimics Sense of Touch

The soft, wearable device simulates the sense of touch and has wide potential in medical and industrial applications.

Octopus-Inspired Soft Robotic Arm

The Tentacle Bot can grip, move, and manipulate a wide range of objects.

5 Ws of the Sign-to-Speech Translation Glove

People who use sign language could communicate directly with non-signers, without needing someone else to translate for them.

Augmented Reality System Lets Smartphone Users Interact with Virtual Objects

This system places virtual objects within real-world backgrounds on cellphone screens and lets people interact with those objects by hand as if they were really there.

Dynamic Gripper Mimics Adjustable Grip of the Human Hand

Such grippers would be suited for human-robot partnership in assembly lines in the automotive, electronic packaging, and other industries.

A Sensor that Fits Like a Glove

We recently had a discussion with Sri Peruvemba, VP of Strategy at BeBop Sensors (Berkeley, CA), about the technology and applications for their two-dimensional fabric sensor material. I started by asking Sri...

Q&A: Harvard's Siyi Xu Designs All-New Strain and Force Sensors

Working with teams from Harvard, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Boston Children's Hospital, Siyi Xu developed a soft, non-toxic, wearable sensor that attaches to the...

Artificial Joint Restores Wrist-Like Movements

For patients missing a hand, one of the biggest challenges to regaining a high level of function is the inability to rotate one's wrist (pronate and supinate). These are essential movements...

Force Sensing — An Addition to the Physical Therapy Toolbox

Undergoing treatment for a physical injury or condition can be a long and frustrating experience. Broken bones, sprains, torn muscles or ligaments, as well as painful conditions...

Self-Learning Robot Hands Adapt to Grasp Objects

Anew grasp system with robotic hands works without previously knowing the characteristics of objects, learning by trial and error. The robot features two hands based on human hands in terms of...

Robotic Gripper for Satellite Capture and Servicing

The robotic gripper was developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as part of a robotic satellite servicing mission. The gripping device can be used to autonomously or remotely grasp and...

Spring Plunger Locking Mechanism for Use in Hand-Actuated Tools

In designing a hand-actuated microspine gripper, a ratcheting locking mechanism was required that had discrete points of locking engagement. The mechanism had to actuate...

Low-Cost Mechanical Device for Minimally Invasive Surgery

A new type of mechanical instrument was developed to perform complex, minimally invasive procedures, also known as laparoscopic surgery. The technology could lead to less trauma for...

Memristors Enable Quick-Learning Neural Network

Inspired by brains, neural networks are composed of neurons (or nodes) and synapses, which are the connections between nodes. To train a neural network for a task, a neural network takes in a...

Echo Analysis Environment for Analyzing Large, Complex Datasets

Analyzing data piecemeal is usually uninformative. Analysts need tools to evaluate multiple pieces of data simultaneously that are related by a common thread. Identifying that...

Wireless Handheld Spectrometer Transmits Data to Smartphone

Spectral images, which contain more color information than is obtainable with a typical camera, reveal characteristics of tissue and other biological samples that can't be seen by...

Flexible “Skin” Senses Shear Force

To date, it has been difficult or impossible for most robotic and prosthetic hands to accurately sense the vibrations and shear forces that occur, for example, when a finger is sliding along a tabletop,...

Transparent, Hydrogel-Based Robots Move When Inflated with Water

Engineers have fabricated transparent, gel-based robots that move when water is pumped in and out of them. They are made entirely of hydrogel — a tough, rubbery, nearly...