Sheffield Hand

The Sheffield Hand is an articulated model of the human upper-limb. It was researched and developed at Sheffield Hallam University.

The aim of the project was to elicit knowledge on appropriate mechanical articulations that would permit life-like movement of a replica of the human arm. In addition to adding to knowledge, this project resulted in several tangible models.
During this research, several international universities were contacted working on ‘artificial muscle’ materials.

It was considered appropriate to provide some of the Sheffield models to these laboratories in order to advance the state of the art in upper-limb prosthetics. One of the arms also went to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories where it is being used as a test rig for their ongoing research into artificial muscle materials.