It’s well known that prosthetic limbs usually cost…ahem…an arm and a leg. And sure there have been attempts to bring the cost down over the years. But this new Maker Hand looks like it turn the whole market for prosthetics on its head. The parts including filament, rubber bands etc cost around $30, and it’s made on a conventional home scale 3D printer. The inventor says it takes around one to two days to print, and then another day to assemble. Incredible.
When you consider that conventional products like this can typically retail for thousands of dollars, this model at $30 all in is a big deal. And the source and print codes to make them will be released on open source in a matter of weeks. It’s a fantastic piece of work and a really noble enterprise to refuse to patent it or sell the design to the highest commercial bidder, so we take our hat off to Mr Andrej Dukic. Thank you sir. Take a look at the video below to get a more detailed impression. [Via Reddit]
“There’s a wire that runs up his arm and across his back. By moving his shoulders apart or together he can open and close the hand. He can also change the tension really quickly by adjusting an elastic on the forearm of the bionic arm with his good hand. You can see him doing it in the videos, it’s an awesome design!”
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Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don’t we all?
Nigel – who has written 6620 posts on The Red Ferret Journal.