omni hand nasa prototype for sale on

Smart Machines reader Gary alerted me today that a piece of robot

history has been placed for sale on eBay. I'm talking about the

prototype hand known as Omni-Hand I and this is apparently a working

system purchased by the eBay seller at a NASA surplus sale. According

to the description on eBay (starting bid is set to $500),

This impressive early prototype demands an important place within

robotics history as the first motorized dexterous robotic hand. It

represents one of the early steps towards making robots more

anthropomorphic. The Omni-Hand was designed and built in the early

1990s by robot pioneer Mark Rosheim with funding from NASA

contracts NAS8-37638 and NAS8-38417 for NASA. Two prototypes were

made. The first was a "test bed" whose features were then

incorporated into this complete unit. Both had the same power and

control system.

Also, check out the following video showing the Omni-Hand grasping an

egg and light bulb,

Additional information: Omni-Hand I eBay auction.