Super cool robotics arm made with LEGO Mindstorms! Via cnet.
OK, this one probably isn’t going to be helping any amputees any time soon — but it’s still a pretty freakin’ sweet concept. Lego and robotics enthusiast (and webcomic artist) Dave “Diavo” Voltaggio has been building himself a functional robotic Lego arm.
He’s been working on the concept for over a year, and is currently up to Mk VI: a construction of Lego, Lego Technic, and Mindstorms that fits over his own right arm. Where Voltaggio’s hand sits is a series four buttons, each attached to a motor. When Voltaggio touches one of the buttons, it triggers the motor on the corresponding finger of the hand (three fingers and a thumb).
The whole thing is powered by a Mindstorms EV3, and blue LEDs and a phone mount on the inner forearm provide a little bit of decoration (as well as functionality — Voltaggio can operate the phone using only his left hand). It took a few evenings to build, on and off, and about an hour to program — not including the time spent on the previous models perfecting the design, of course.
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