Abstract: The novel elastic rod with embedded functional material-SMA wire is presented. The for-mulation describing rod’s deformation is founded by solving the equilibrium equations for both the rodand SMA wires. The developed compound rod is 8mm in diameter, 40mm in length and 8g in weight. The maximum bending curvature of rod can reach 14.8m^-1. Furthermore, a sectional robot hand using several rods with embedded SMA wires is constructed. The grasping experiment results are also dis-cussed. Operation experiments proof that the new type of ESMAA with a lower technologic complexity,a longer operating life and a higher reliability, results in a compact and flexible robotics system.