Patent ID: 7168748

Claim:
A self-contained, practical robotic device energized by a power source and adapted to interact with objects comprises: a base, at least one finger mounted on said base having at least first and second links rotatably connected in series to one another at a rotary joint and connected at a proximate end of said first link to the base, said at least one finger having at least two degrees of freedom associated with at least two of said rotary joints, an actuator mounted on said robotic device at each said rotary joint, said actuator being a source of motive force operable to produce movement of an associated link about the associated one of said rotary joint, an electronic controller located proximate each of said actuators to control and power the associated one of said actuators, wiring within said robotic device that connects said controllers and said associated actuators to the power source and interactively connects said controllers to one another on a shared bus to form a distributed control network, and a network operating controller interactively connected by said wiring to all said actuator controllers, said network operating controller coordinating the operation of said actuators through said distributed network of said actuator controllers.