Robotic Prosthetic Arm.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2007-05-20 09:48pm

While you'd heard the whispers of a robotic prosthetic arm being crafted by Dean Kamen and his engineering colleagues, very little details have since surfaced on the project. Thankfully, a video was captured during a recent conference in Honolulu, Hawaii where Dean was addressing the FIRST Robotics competition. During the speech, however, he segued (ahem) into a brief glimpse at what's been going on behind the scenes with the device. Shown as "Gen X - Separate Exo Control," the robotic arm was seen demonstrated by team members grasping a water bottle from a friend, picking up an ink pen and turning the wrist over in order to write, and even scratching his nose. Kamen explained that haptic response was paramount, and the "fully completed" prototype sports 14 degrees of freedom (and actuators) and weighs less than nine pounds. Click on through for the captured demonstration.

The video is quite remarkable. Doc Ock anyone?

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-05-20 10:21pm

So, Miles Dyson is apparently alive and well.

Singular Intellect · Post by **Singular Intellect** » 2007-05-20 10:33pm

Provides a great source of hope for those who've lost their arms.

Once again science, hard work and humanitarian efforts show amazing progress.

Eulogy · Post by **Eulogy** » 2007-05-20 11:53pm

Behold the age of cyborgs!

The robot arm doesn't look or move exactly human, of course, but a robot arm is better then having no arm at all.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-05-21 12:04am

I wonder if there's any intention of increasing range of motion or degrees of freedom? I'm no engineer, but it wouldn't make much sense to artificially limit a joint to approximate human-standard when it would otherwise be better.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 2007-05-21 12:22am

robot

Winston Blake · Post by **Winston Blake** » 2007-05-21 07:23am

It doesn't seem to have any new technology in it, but it's amazing how it can be so light yet have a lot of freedom at the same time. I bet it costs an arm and a leg.

*SUBJECT HAS BEEN APPREHENDED DUE TO ATROCIOUS PUNNING*

Starglider · Post by **Starglider** » 2007-05-21 08:13am

Stark wrote:I wonder if there's any intention of increasing range of motion or degrees of freedom? I'm no engineer, but it wouldn't make much sense to artificially limit a joint to approximate human-standard when it would otherwise be better.

Degrees of freedom runs into the 'how do you control it' issue. Extended range of motion would probably be ok once people are used to it, but it'll probably freak them out to start with.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2007-05-21 08:35am

The next step, of course, is getting some kind of feedback from it - let the person feel the arm itself.