The Biomechanical Robotics Group is a team of 3D printing enthusiasts with the vision to create highly functional prosthetics that are affordable and customizable. By analyzing the everyday, real world tasks that human hands are called to carry out, the team has managed to develop the “Nu Hand”, which is a fully 3D-printed, modular prosthetic hand boasting an impressive ability to replicate the anatomical motion of a biological hand.
The Nu Hand is the result of years of research and development and is the second iteration of the first hand prosthetic that BRG created. It can be of variable size to match the body of the user, and BRG can derive with accurate dimensions, even in the cases when no hand is available for measurement, through the use of an anthropometric data points approach. As every part is 3D printed, the cost of this particular prosthetic hand is roughly 10% of the cost of “traditional” hand prostheses. Contrary to older solutions, the Nu Hand offers the ability to reprint damaged parts and replace modules that have undergone wear and tear. This raises the life expectancy of the product, and, thus, further lowers the financial burden for the wearer in the long term.
Besides the chassis, which is made out of 3D printed PLA plastic, the Nu Hand features “tendons”, plastic lines with low elasticity and high endurance. These “tendons” are connected to the fingers and can close the Nu Hand fist, if servo motors are utilized to pull them. When the tension is released, the fingers are passively returning to the “open palm” position, thanks to the special elastic bands that are positioned in the back of the hand. This “active-passive” movement of the hand is actually very close to the way our hand muscles and tendons work and how the generated forces are applied to the objects we hold, so users of Nu Hand will experience a more naturally moving prosthetic.
To make things even more realistic and widen the scope of application possibilities, the fingers also support lateral movement, shaping the hand for waving or providing additional support, when in need to carry something big, etc. A dedicated servo motor will be used for the individual lateral movement of each finger. Although the prototype utilized five independent servo motors, BRG plans to develop an advanced drive system that would only require one motor for the hand to work, so the battery life would increase and the weight and cost of the prosthetic would drop significantly.
BRG have exciting future plans that involve the development of 3D printed arms, legs and feet, but the first step remains the Nu Hand. Currently, the project is on Kickstarter asking for financial support with a goal of $50,000. The most affordable pledge package that will buy you a Nu Hand costs $349, but it is important to note that the hand is still under heavy development and not ready for the consumer market.
As desktop 3D printing technology has matured, the sector of 3D printed prosthetics has exploded over the last couple of years. There are quite a lot of different teams, communities, and collaborative efforts working at low-cost, highly customizable prosthetics. It is only a matter of time before the people in need of these products will have a wide spectrum of choices, regularly available in the market, for only a fraction of the cost of the traditional medical prosthetics. Although there are may complications involved with the actual adoption of such products by those in need, open source designs with freely downloadable model files for home printing of bionic prosthetics should not be very far down the line either.
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