Robot Hand With Working Tendons Printed in One Go

A skeletal robotic hand with working ligaments and tendons can now be 3D-printed in one run. The creepy accomplishment was made possible by a new approach to additive manufacturing that can print both rigid and elastic materials at the same time in high resolution.

The new work is the result of a collaboration between researchers at the ETH Zurich in Switzerland and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-out called Inkbit, based in Medford, Mass.. The group has devised a new 3D inkjet printing technique capable of using a wider range of materials than previous devices.

In a new paper…