Lead Designer Federico Ciccarese contacted us with a few updates from the Italian open prosthetic project Youbionic that adds a few interesting deformation strategies to those we have shared from eNABLE and projects like InMoov:
The hand’s movements are made possible by the complex internal geometries that form its parts and which can be manufactured only through 3D printing technologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS).
This new mechanical technology has never been used before. It works by “deformation of the material”. Every characteristic and behavior can be planned exclusively through its geometrical design and it requires minimal
assembly. During the design and development processes we can modify the tiniest details for improved efficiency.Youbionic has been designed by combining the main skeletal structure with the rotational transportation leverage mechanisms. They are synchronized so as to obtain a double rotation starting from a single rotation. This means that a realistic movement can be obtained through a simple actuator. The
brain is an Arduino board and this coupled with sourcing of other commercially available components makes it possible for us to target a €1000 price tag.…We envision Youbionic as a modular artificial hand. One of the key features is that it would be easy to replace the electronics and actuators so that the 3D printed part can always be set to fit the exact size of a growing child’s arm. Thus effectively filling the gap with current traditionally manufactured advanced prostheses while drastically reducing the cost.
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!