Design News Reports on 3D-Printed Robot Hand With Bones, Ligaments and Tendons

On Dec. 5, 2023, Design News reported on a 3D-printed robot hand with bones, ligaments and tendons.

The available information is limited, so no firm conclusions can be drawn. But a structure with bones, ligaments and tendons can be read as a move in robot-hand design away from a focus on rigid bodies and toward biomimicry. Details about the objects it can grip and its durability would make it easier to determine whether it is intended for research or practical use.

This is a report about a 3D-printed robot hand. The first point to note is that the focus is not simply on a prototype’s external shape, but on mimicking the mechanical structures of bones, ligaments and tendons. However, the excerpt provided does not reveal details about the method, materials, actuation or performance comparisons, so the design’s intent and practicality must be assessed by referring to the full original report. Based on the available information, key issues for robot hands often include the degrees of freedom of their gripping mechanisms, durability and maintainability. 3D printing is suited to integrating complex shapes, but the extent to which the hand can withstand loads and repeated movement is likely to be a key question. This article therefore focuses only on the substitution of “bones, ligaments and tendons” described in Design News’ report. One issue for biomimetic hands is how well they can reproduce the gripping of soft objects and behavior during contact compared with conventional rigid-link robot hands. At the same time, greater structural complexity could make mass production and the management of replacement parts more difficult. The information provided does not make it possible to determine the technology, price, target market or comparisons with competitors; see the original report for details. Points to check going forward include, first, the specific implementation of bones, ligaments and tendons through 3D printing; second, the conditions used to evaluate gripping performance and durability; and third, whether the hand is at the prototype or mass-production stage.