The robotic hand prototype used during the LifeHand project is called CyberHand.

At least thirty engineers working at the ARTS Lab of the Polo Valdera of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa have worked on designing and improving the prosthesis and the neural interfacing system, from the first prototypes up to the present, under the Scientific Direction of Prof. M. Chiara Carrozza and Prof. Paolo Dario.

Materials of a very different nature were used to build the CyberHand prototype, depending on the various operating requirements. The fingers are made in aluminum, light and resistant. The execution mechanisms are made of steel. Carbon fiber was used for the palm and the linings. The electronic part of CyberHand consists of standard materials, typically used to make electronic cards.

CyberHand weighs approximately two kilograms and its size is comparable to the hand of an adult male.

The electronic execution system is positioned on a laboratory tower frame (not optimized for prosthetic applications) the size of a forearm.

Its peculiar features are:

1. Under actuation: one motor works on the simultaneous flexion of three joints. This simplifies control and allows for an enveloping grip on the object.
2. Irreversible actuation mechanism: thanks to this mechanism, once the object is grasped the motor can be turned off without the finger opening again. This is a crucial mechanism in the prosthesis, since it avoids unnecessary waste of battery life. 
3. Five independent fingers and opposing movement.
4. Actuation by sheaths: similar to the mechanism used in bicycle brakes, it allows for the motors to be positioned far away from the hand, without any special difficulty in transferring the motion.

CyberHand can execute power grips (bottles, parallelepiped-shaped objects that fit in the palm of the hand). The prototype can also do certain gestures.

Within the scope of LifeHand, connection between the neural interfaces and the hand was developed through a transcutaneous connection (with wires coming out of the skin of the patient’s arm).

In the near future, however, a telemetric system (wireless) will be used between the inside and the outside of the human body. The work group of the ARTS Lab of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa, coordinated by Silvestro Micera, engineer, dealt with the development of algorithms used to extract motor commands and to stimulate the sensorial fibers, for the two-way connection between the (implanted) interfaces and the hand (external), essential components of a “cybernetic” prosthesis.