Shadow Dextrous Hand

The Shadow Dextrous Hand offers a wireless solution to bomb disposal…

British engineers have designed a highly dexterous remote-controlled robotic hand that they hope could lead to a breakthrough in the field of bomb disposal.

The robotic hand, dubbed the Shadow Dextrous Hand, contains 20 motors – each corresponding to a joint of the human hand – and is able to replicate 24 precise movements often performed by the hand. 

The new C6M2 unit can be controlled by a glove that has an array of sensors connected to a computer. The sensors track wearers movements and then relays the information wirelessly the unit which replicates them in real-time.

Developers the Shadow Robot Company, hopes that within the next two years it will have progressed the technology to replicate the sophisticate movements required to dispose bombs.

Jake Goldsmith, robotics engineer at Shadow told, that they were ‘eighteen months to two years away from being able to have the technology.’

One major hurdle, explained Goldsmith, is getting the pressure right as many actions performed by the fingers needs a good amount of force, but not too much. 

The company is already in talks with the Military; however they must first prove that the device is precise enough to be deployed with the bomb disposal unit.

The Shadow Dextrous Hand was on display at the TechnologyWorld forum at London’s Excel Centre early in December, 2010.