Italian researchers unveil lighter, cheaper robotic hand

This robotic prosthetic hand gives its wearer back over 90 percent of the functionality of their lost limb, according to its designers.
Called the "Hannes" prosthetic device, recipients can do everything from driving to using a pencil or even sawing through a plank of wood.
Marco Zambelli, 64 from Sant'Agata Bolognese, lost his hand in a workplace incident when he was 15.
For the past three years he has been testing this new robotic prosthetic limb.
"I had always prioritized my left hand, in fact I had become really good at doing things with my left hand. With this type of prosthesis, the Hannes hand, what happens is activities are shared: things I was used to having to do with my left hand can now also be done by my right hand. It's a process I'm still working through, day by day," Zambelli says.
As well as a wrist that can bend in five different positions, it has a thumb able to meet all sorts of daily challenges.
The "pinch grasp" allows the wearer to grasp small objects like a nail, the "power grasp" to move heavy objects weighing up to 15 kilograms, and the "lateral grip" to hold thin objects like a credit card.
The hand was created by the Rehab Technology laboratory, which was set up in 2013 by the Italian Technology Institute (IIT) and the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents and Work (INAIL) to develop new prosthetic, orthotic and rehabilitation devices.