We have seen our fair share of devices from Sandia National Laboratories in the past, and here we are with their latest device that might just keep you interested and wanting more – a highly affordable robotic hand which is capable of disarming improvised explosive devices, or better known as IEDs. Simply called the Sandia Hand, it boasts unprecedented levels of dexterity and modularity compared to previous robot hands. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Sandia Hand is capable of moving its different fingers individually thanks to a modular structure, where you can also replace the finger(s) with tools for select missions on the battlefield – or perhaps to make less of a mess in the kitchen as it whips up the relevant ingredients, waiting for you to put all of them together.
Another use of the Sandia Hand would be to enlist it as part of the Army’s equipment, followed by disarming bombs afterwards without putting any human lives in danger. Right now, the Sandia Hand is said to offer 12 degrees of freedom, where it is tilled to retail for around $10,000 when it enters volume production. Sandia claims, “At this price point, the Sandia Hand has the potential to be a disruptive technology. Computers, calculators, and cell phones became part of daily life and drastically changed how we do things when the price became affordable. This hand has the same potential, especially given that high-volume production can further reduce the cost.” What do you think? [Press Release]