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Object Timeline
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Prosthetic Hand, Robohand
This is a Prosthetic hand.
This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from MakerBot Industries as part of Beautiful Users.
Richard van As, a South African woodworker, lost four fingers in a shop accident in 2011. He used a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer to prototype his own prosthesis at low cost. Cables attached to the base structure cause the fingers to curl when the user’s wrist bends, enabling the user to grasp objects. Robohand files are posted on Thingiverse, allowing users to produce their own devices.
It is credited Courtesy of MakerBot Industries.
- Sweat Protector (koyori Ase-hajiki) (Japan)
- paper.
- Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.
- 2009-36-2
- Darning Sampler (Netherlands)
- silk embroidery on linen foundation.
- Bequest of Gertrude M. Oppenheimer.
- 1981-28-234
- Drawing, "Geomechanical Tower" from Centricity Series
- color pencil on strathmore paper.
- Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program....
- 1999-23-1
Our curators have highlighted 7 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Drawing, Study of a Mechanical Figure
- brush and gouache, graphite on cream paper.
- Gift of Mrs. E. McKnight Kauffer.
- 1963-39-913
- Drawing, Box Camera #5811, Built-In Flash
- graphite on tracing tissue.
- Gift of Henry Dreyfuss.
- 1972-88-356
- Poster, "The Birth of the Blues" for Levi Strauss
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Various Donors.
- 1981-29-253
Its dimensions are
H x W x D: 7.6 x 15.2 x 35.6 cm (3 x 6 x 14 in.)


Robohand Demo Video
The Robohand's creator talks about how the device works, plus a testimonial from a Robohand user.
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Beautiful Users.