The Cyberhand: on the design of a cybernetic prosthetic hand intended to be interfaced to the peripheral nervous system

The objective of the project described in this paper is the development of a cybernetic prosthesis, replicating as much as possible the sensory-motor capabilities of the natural hand. The human hand is not only an effective tool but also an ideal instrument to acquire information from the external environment. The development of a truly human-like artificial hand is probably the most widely known paradigm of "bionics". The Cyberhand Project aims to obtain a cybernetic prosthetic hand interfaced to the peripheral nervous system. In particular this paper is focused on the hand mechanisms design and it presents preliminary results in developing the three fingered anthropomorphic hand prototype and its sensory system.