New automated hand

New "mechanical arm" has the precision to manipulate tiny electronic components with tweezers

Researchers at Ajou University (South Korea)  have made a mechanical hand with such high precision that it can pick up and hold ( for example - chicken eggs) without damage and also cut paper with scissors, and use tweezers to pick up and place microchips and other tiny electronic components on the surface of a printed circuit board. In addition to the high accuracy of movements, the new mechanical arm has a very impressive strength, it is able to crush an aluminum can of a drink or lift a dumbbell weighing up to 18 kilograms.

The design of the mechanical arm is made primarily of lightweight aluminum with some elements of steel, due to which it has a weight of 1.2 kilograms and a length of 22 centimeters. The arm consists of 20 movable joints held together by metal parts and springs that work like artificial tendons. And each finger is driven by three independent small electric motors located inside the wrist.

This design allows the mechanical hand to perform all the movements that the human hand is capable of performing. And the highest precision of movements is ensured by appropriate sensors and a high-quality electronic control system.

During testing, the arm design demonstrated high reliability. With repeated repetition of the same action for a long time, the researchers did not register a decrease in the accuracy of movements, nor a decrease in the efforts developed during this.