Aug 25, 2015 | By Simon

It’s been said before but it deserves being said again: one of the best applications for 3D printing has been in allowing creators to manufacture their own product designs without the need to jump through the hoops that most traditional product designs require for getting manufactured.

More recently, Debbie Leung, an electrical engineer who has been experimenting with 3D printing technology for the past couple of years, has been actively developing Cosmogony - a cyborg hand that features a built-in game called "Expand Your Universe".  

According to Debbie, a user exists as the four planets at the center.  As you expand at each stage, an asteroid from random direction hurdles towards you.  In order to avoid a collision with the asteroid, the users must try to move their hand in order to dodge the asteroid in an X or Y direction sensed by the accelerometer.  

“The game gets little bit more difficult when you expand further as the distance from the asteroid is closer,” she explains.  

“So a quicker response is needed without knowing which direction the asteroid comes from. When you win the whole game, you reach the border of the universe to enter a new dimension where you have the power to build a whole new universe to repeat the same expansion process.”

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen an impressive 3D printed cyborg hand from Debbie, either.  About a year ago, Debbie designed and 3D printed a 'Light Show Hand' based on the typical Upper Limb Prosthetics that e-NABLE have made freely available on Thingiverse.  While she used the e-NABLE hand as a starting point, Debbie added a number of custom modifications to make the hand more interactive using her electrical engineering know-how.

“Art can inspire our lives with aesthetics and technology can improve our lives with functionality,” said Debbie in an email to 3Ders.

“The combination of art and technology creates a fun factor that is what this new light show hand with a cosmic theme called Cosmogony does.  I am always fascinated with the idea of unknowns in the Cosmo. So this is why I wanted to make a cosmic theme.” 

Working alongside Danny Leung, this new hand design was designed based on Debbie’s experience with her light show hand and the desire to ease the installation of the electrical components.  Among other details, this included using NinjaFlex filament and a spring as a finger joint to eliminate an extra hole in the design that was used by a an elastic cord in each finger.  Additionally, the palm was designed with a “spiral-shaped Galaxy” that features a compartment for the LED dot matrix on top of the palm.  Finally, a 3D printed Hubble Telescope and spaceship are incorporated on the gauntlet which features a compartment for 9V battery and PCB while a  3D printed knob “encapsulates the potentiometer and is incorporated on top of the gauntlet.”

In total, the electrical components embedded within the hand included four RGB LED lights in the fingertips, three rainbow diffused LED lights on the palm, an Adafruit 8x8 LED dot matrix in the palm, six strings of fiber optic lights in the spiral galaxy, while a potentiometer,  a 9V battery, a dual-axis accelerometer (Memsic 2125) and an Arduino Nano were housed in the gauntlet.

According to Debbie, the game is a metaphor of life.

“As we try to expand our heart and mind, our spirit might feel defeated by obstacles,” she explains.   

“Then we try hard not to let obstacles be in our way. Hope we can keep expanding our heart and mind to make amazing things happen!”

If her 3D printed cyborg hands are any indication, then Debbie is certainly capable of making amazing things happen!


 

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

 

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