Excuse me, my pinky is ringing

pinky-bluetooth-handset

We get a lot of email challenging us to hack things. Sometimes we ignore them, other times we send some words of encouragement. But this time around we thought [Tait] had really come up with a great hack; to build a Bluetooth handset into his prosthetic finger. He hasn't done much hacking in the past and was wondering if we could put out a challenge to our readers to make this happen. After a bit … [Read more...]

Robotic helicopter that can grasp a payload

helicopter-grabber

Like the Grand Theft Auto RC missions come to life, this helicopter can grasp objects for transport. They don't have to be a special size or shape, and it can lift them even if they are not centered. This is thanks to a load-balancing hand (originally developed as a prosthesis) that relies on flexible joints and a tendon-like closing mechanism. As you can see in the video, the light-weight chopper … [Read more...]

EMG controlled prosthesis

EMG-controlled-prothesis

This prosthetic arm is the result of a student project. [Amnon Demri] and his classmates built it with below-the-elbow amputees in mind. It uses electromyography to actuate the fingers and wrist. Four stick-on sensors are placed around the elbow to sense electrical activity there. These signals are interpreted by a PIC 16f877a microcontroller which then controls the servo motors to operate the … [Read more...]

Door opening help

27355401 (Custom)

For those who are seeking prosthetic limbs, or just require a little bit of robotic gripper help, the choices are very few and very costly. A newcomer to the area is hoping to change the costly part with their door opening arm. Costing only $2,000 to build, it is quite cheap compared to the other offerings. This arm can grip, twist, and swing its arm at the same time using a single motor … [Read more...]

Dean Kamen’s prosthetic arm

luke

60 minutes has covered [Dean Kamen]'s modular robotic arm.  This thing is light weight, adjustable for different body frame sizes, modular, and eventually thought controlled. The system is currently functioning quite well, as you can see in the video. Current testers are controlling it with buttons under their toes, but the thought control is in the later stages of development. Sounds like … [Read more...]

USB finger

usbfinger

[Jerry] lost his finger in an accident and has since added a prosthetic USB flash drive in its place. It's making the best of a bad situation; there's nothing wrong with a little voluntary cyborgization. At least it's not as invasive as some of the implants we've seen before. UPDATE: Here's the entry on [Jerry]'s personal blog. [via Gizmodo] … [Read more...]