Owned by Daniel Melville, it is a wonder of engineering

Feb 7, 2015 11:11 GMT  ·  By

Prosthetics have been receiving a very high level of attention over the past few years, due to advancements in robotics and the price cuts made possible by 3D printing technology. Today we are going to look at the culmination of all that research.

Further development is still in the pipeline of course, but that can be said about everything created by man. Refinements and expansions are always possible as long as an idea remains in any way viable.

What we have to show you today is not another one of those purely mechanical 3D printed hands. Amazing as they are, they are ultimately limited in use, though it definitely helps that they sell for fifty bucks instead of fifty grand.

Behold Daniel Melville's bionic hand

Melville is the first pilot for the 3D printed hand created by Open Bionics and can perform such actions as shacking hands, giving high-fives and even fist bumps.

He has actually been shaking hands almost constantly since he received the robotic hand, much to his own delight and that of his loved ones.

The pilot program occurred during the Consumer Electronics Show, back in January (CES 2015), and had Melville wear the hand for five days, tasting the range of motion and the feel.

The inventors, 24 year-old Joel Gibbard (same age as Daniel) won a Best Product Innovation award for it, as the hand is considered “world's most advanced” at present.

How the hand was made

Daniel's right arm was scanned first, a process that took only 20 minutes. The scan was used to create a 3D mesh for the arm, where the robotic arm would be mounted.

The socket was printed in 40 minutes and took 40 hours to create, instead of the normal weeks of regular prosthetics. After that, the hand was outfitted with various robotic parts and connected to Daniel's muscle signals. No pins are used, just some electromagnetic sensors to record the muscle activity.

Plans for the future

While Daniel Melville lives out his dream for a functional hand (he'd given up wearing a cosmetic prosthetic due to it getting in the way), Joel Gibbard intends to improve the hand, starting with making it stronger, lighter and free of the wires on the outside.

“The next hand I’ve designed weighs half the amount as that prototype which will make a huge difference for the user and it looks far better,” Joel said. “I’m not going to be able to stop until I’ve made something that is perfect. It has to be light-weight, low-cost, and creative. It has to offer something.”

Daniel Melville's bionic hand (4 Images)

Daniel Melville shakes hands
EMG sensors being appliedThe bionic hand
+1more