When You Need an Exoskeleton Arm on the Cheap #WearableWednesday #wearabletech #tech #robotics #DIY
There’s a great project going on right now by Kristjan Berce to create an inexpensive exoskeleton arm. His project ExoArm has been featured on a recent Hackaday post and uses an interesting mix of parts including a handheld rig for a weed wacker, an Arduino Uno/Nano, a strain gauge and a windshield wiper motor. He’s definitely making good use of found items and has been grabbing some great pics on his Instagram.
One of the interesting problems that developed during his project was the awkwardness of frequently putting the arm on for testing, so he developed a wood post to hold the wearable. There’s also been some issues concerning the sensor and Kristjan’s project logs have produced some interesting interactions, with fellow makers helping him to trouble-shoot with math and physics. A recent video proves the collaboration has been beneficial, and shows a bit of the tweaking with the arm moving as hoped. Woot!
This is really exciting progress and I can’t wait to see the finished prototype. If you are interested in the project, you should definitely check out all the logs. Kristjan’s goal is to keep the device at $100 and so far it’s getting a lot of thumbs up, especially by a nurse who is interested in developing a similar product. It’s great when tech can solve problems, and if you are interested in another example of assistive tech you should check out our learning guide on using Bluefruit BLE for Switch Control Access to IOS Devices. Just because you can’t use a touchscreen doesn’t mean you have to buy expensive workarounds!
Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!
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Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!