The Dextrus is crowdfunded, production version of the Open Hand, a 3D-printed, open source hardware prosthetic/robotic hand that is freely licensed and patent-free. They're raising money on indieGogo to do a production run — £460 gets you a fully assembled hand; £700 gets you the hand with all electronics.

The Open Hand Project aims to make advanced prosthetic hands more accessible to amputees. The Dextrus hand is the realization of this goal, it's a low-cost robotic hand that offers much of the functionality of a human hand. Ultimately, these hands will be sold for under $1000 (£630).

The Open Hand Project is open-source, which means all of the plans to make a robotic hand will be published online with no patents, anyone has the right to make their own and even sell it themselves. You're funding the full development of the hand with the Open Hand Project, after that companies will be able to use the designs and sell the hands all over the world. This really helps get these devices out to developing countries and places where import taxes might otherwise increase the cost of distribution.

The Dextrus hand is for anyone who wants an advanced robotic hand. This could be an amputee who wants a little more than a metal hook, a researcher who's looking into control systems for telepresence robots or perhaps a hobbyist who is making a humanoid robot.

Chef Liam Corbett lost his hand to meningitis two years ago and is working with me to test the Dextrus hand. He had great things to say about the latest prototype.