LONDON -- Getting a glass of water in the night could soon be far easier for disabled people -- a robot could do it for them.

A UK company is developing a robotic arm, which fully mimics a human hand, according to the BBC News On-Line.

It is hoped the programming needed to make a prototype arm which can fetch a drink could be completed within a year.

The Shadow Robot Company, based in north London, hopes eventually to develop a robot that can perform a wide variety of tasks for disabled people.

It has just received an invention and innovation award of pnds75,000 to help develop the robot from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

But disabled campaigners said a robot was no replacement for flexible, human, personal assistance.

The arm can already pick up a glass and hold it.

Richard Greenhill, managing director of the Shadow Robot Company, told BBC News On-Line the grant would allow work on the complex navigational and knowledge program needed.

"It has to know everything such as where the cupboard is and how to open the door.", IRNA quoted Greenhill as saying.

"Our device is different in that it's got all the movements of a human hand. "NASA has got a hand with 12 movements. We have done all 24, so we're a significant step ahead."

The secret of the robot is using air muscles rather than electric motors to power the movements.

All the air muscles can fit into a forearm.

They are a rubber tube inside a special braiding.

If the tube inside gets fatter, the braiding gets shorter.

This means more muscles to control movement can be fitted into the forearm that if electric motors were used, increasing the range of movements, the hand can perform.

It will have a hand and arm on a moving base, with remote control and camera systems, so the user can guide the robot through simple tasks.

Eventually computer software will allow the robot to perform tasks automatically. Richard Walker, technical advisor at the company, said: "The aim of this is to make a robot that's helpful to a person that needs assistance on a daily basis, things that they could feel were too trivial or embarrassing to ask a person to help with."

He said the robot could provide a safer and more convenient alternative to a person carrying out a task themselves.

Walker admitted a robot could cost as much as a car, but said a disabled person could pay for it gradually over time.