As he researched prosthetic, it was apparent there was nothing available to replace his lost fingers and the charge for finger prosthetic cost exorbitant amounts of money.But instead of giving up, Richard started to develop ideas to create his own fingers using 3D printing.
SEE ALSO : 4 Incredible and Affordable 3D Printers
Very soon his efforts raised the interest of an American mechanical prop designer, Ivan Owen. Even though they were in different continents, they started using a MakerBot Replicator 2 desktop printer to design a pair of plastic mechanical fingers. The development was based on a trial-and-error method and many prototypes were created; but the duo finally crafted a prosthetic hand that replicated actual human movements.
"The Makerbot speedened the creation of prototypes and try out ideas. It gave us the ability to hold a physical copy of the what we had designed even after being separated by 10,000 miles," says Van As. The success of their endeavor has been documented in their blog, “coming up short handed”.
Liam Dippenaar, was born with Ambiotic Band Syndrome. He received his own Robohand, a low-cost, 3D- prosthetic printed from nontoxic, biodegradable, printable plastic after his mother reached out to Richard and Ivan.
The Robohand is worn like a glove, around the arm. The parts have all been printed by the Makerbot and joined by nuts, bolts and bungee cords. It copies the movement of the wrist. The fingers are closed with the help of cables that are driven by bending the wrist forwards and backward, which releases the fingers.
3D printing has opened up new vistas of applications. As the child grows, the Robohand can simply be scaled up using the software and printed again. The older “hands” can then be donated to other children.
"We love to see our printers being used for amazing life-changing and life-validating projects like this," says Jenifer Howard, MakerBot's PR director.
Currently, Richard and Ivan are helping other children with their creation. The production of these hand cost as low as $150. The duo is giving out their design, free of cost, which can be downloaded from Thingiverse. It means that anyone with a 3D printer can print their own Robohands. They are also trying to raise money to help other people who require their assistance and to develop new prototypes of the Robohand.
The Robohand has been nominated for the Rockafella Innovators award. It is also on display at the Science Museum of London.
This novelty has attracted the attention of people from around the globe. With adequate research and development, the Robohand could change the life of thousands of people.
