This paper describes a mechanical underactuated hand, whose design is under patenting. The proposed hand can be used as robot grasping end-effector and, mainly, as a human prosthesis. The proposed underactuated mechanism is based on an adaptive scheme, hence it permits to move five fingers with only one actuator. The actuator is connected to a set of pulleys that operate five tendons. Each tendon will move the phalanxes of a finger. The proposed mechanism permits each finger to adapt its configuration to almost any object shape so that each of the fingers will grasp the object independently on the configuration of the finger itself and independently on the configuration of the other fingers. The tendons are un-extendible so that each finger will grasp an object always with the same force, regardless of object shape. The overall grasping force will be controlled just by adjusting the input actuator torque. This paper also reports preliminary kinematic and dynamic studies aiming to a validation of the feasibility of the proposed design solution. Finally an early experimental prototype is shown.
