Abstract: Based on the analysis of the development of recent robotic hands and the characteristics of underwater tasks,this paper proposes the design requirements for the operating multi-sensor underwater robotic hand.The performance of the underwater robotic hands is also evaluated.Furthermore,the relationship between essential parameters of the robotic hand is formulated according to the robotic hand’s grasp of a typical object.The prototype of the robotic hand can meet the requirements of such tasks as object recognition,object grasp,simple assembly and object handling,and provides a hardware platform for further research on the sensory systems of the operating multi-sensor underwater robotic hand.