July 7, 2015 | By Simon
Although we’ve seen dozens of designs for open source 3D printable prosthetic hands over the past few years, it’s only been recently that we’ve seen an increased interest in those who are focused on developing prosthetic hands that attempt to emulate the human hand through complicated recreations of ligaments and joints.
Ultimately, the common goal for each of the creators has been to create a device that is relatively inexpensive for those in need of an advanced prosthetic hand that can be created using a common 3D printer, such as a desktop FDM 3D printer.
Among others who have lent their modeling expertise towards creating a highly-advanced 3D printed prosthetic human hand is Brazilian CAD enthusiast Martin Vincent Bloedorn, who counts ‘fiddling on (his) 3D printer’ to be among his hobbies along with playing the drums and learning languages.
Inspired by the need for a robust and low-cost 3D printed hand prosthesis using off-the-shelf components, Bloedorn’s ‘Biohand’ is among one of the more mechanically complex prosthetic hands that emulates a human hand and is currently available as an open source model online. His goal is to allow users to create their own Biohand for less than $300 total - which is tens of thousands of dollars less than many comparable prosthetics that are produced using traditional manufacturing methods.
“Though technology gets cheaper by the day, the prices of health-related tech haven't seen drastic changes in the last years,” explains Bloedorn.
“While I do understand that there is a lot involved in developing live-supporting devices, I feel that there's lots of room to increase affordability in the field … living in the third world, it's clear to me that such devices simply can't reach all of those who need them.”
The hand, which uses actuated motors with a linkage to drive each finger via a threaded rod, was built from scratch using Autodesk Inventor - however Bloedorn states that he’s likely to switch over to Onshape in the not-too-distant future.
Bloedorn decided to use standard RC servo motors in the design because they can be accessed nearly anywhere in the world and their internal parts are very similar across multiple manufacturers.
“I live in Brazil,” says Bloedorn. “Here – unfortunately – lots of components are expensive or hard to get. This constrained a lot of design choices. I tried my best to use solely open-source development tools (or, in worst cases, free-of-charge ones).”
The final, working system is powered by a 2S LiPo battery and the micro servo for the thumb uses an LM317 or an LM1117 regulator.
According to Bloedorn, each finger is actuated individually and relies on a 4-bar linkage mechanism to synchronize the movement of the proximal and distal phalanges. The actuator is fully enclosed in the palm, to guarantee that even patients with wrist disarticulation or transradial amputation can use it.
Although he admits that the design currently lacks aesthetically pleasing covers, he states that he’ll be including them in a later iteration of the Biohand design.
“As many other Makers already, I wish to change this situation, even if by the tiniest bit.”
For instructions on building your own Biohand and to find out more about the motivation behind the project and future developments, head over to Hackaday.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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