Open-source robotic leg
All over the world, tens of millions of leg amputees have a reduced quality of life due to persistent mobility limitations. So the potential of an open-source project like this one, from the Neurobionics Lab at the University of Michigan, is vast. Its purpose is to unify the research of prosthetic leg controls. This is achieved with the use of a single, ubiquitous robotic leg system so that the results of research teams can be easily compared.
Through the project’s website, researchers have access to downloadable hardware and software files so that they can enter the research field without having to design a leg themselves. Featuring a robotic knee and ankle system, the open-source leg can be easily manufactured, assembled, and controlled – using a Raspberry Pi 4 running Python code. The advanced AI-based control can automatically adapt the actions of the bionic leg to seamlessly switch activities, such as going from walking, to going up stairs, to down a ramp.
While the total cost of the parts required is around $28,500, it’s really a research tool rather than a build-at-home solution, with the ultimate goal of developing a bio-inspired blueprint for improved control of assistive technologies. So it may well eventually lead to the ability to manufacture low-cost, high-performance robotic legs to help many more people.
Enable
Founded in 2011, the e-NABLE Community is a global network of around 40,000 volunteers who are using their 3D printers, design skills, and personal time to create free 3D-printed prosthetic hands for those in need – with the goal of providing them to underserved populations around the world.
Community members – including engineers, scientists, medical professionals, and tinkerers – collaborate on ways to help improve the open-source 3D printable designs for hands and arms for those who were born missing fingers or who have lost them due to war, disease, or natural disaster.
While the hands are not fully functional prosthetic devices, as the fingers don’t have individual movement, they are helpful for children, in particular, who might not otherwise have access to a prosthetic hand. Children can use them for simple tasks like holding water bottles, using two hands to ride a bike, holding sports equipment like a cricket bat, and catching a ball.
The e-NABLE Hub has 3D printing files and detailed assembly instructions for a variety of hand, arm, and shoulder designs, some with specialist use cases such as a guitar pick holder. Raw materials for a project can cost as little as $35.
Open Bionics
Originally inspired by the Yale OpenHand Project, OpenBionics is an open-source initiative developing affordable, lightweight robotic and bionic hand devices that can be easily reproduced.
Low-cost devices include a robot hand, prosthetic hand, and exoskeleton glove, all of which can be modified by developers for specific types of tasks. With a modular design that can accommodate a total of four fingers, and a differential mechanism that allows for independent finger movements, the robot hand is very capable of grasping various everyday objects.
The prosthetic hand has a bio-inspired design that structurally reproduces the movements of human fingers.
All the designs, electronics, and software required to replicate and control the devices can be found in the project’s GitHub repository.
OpenBionics Labs
While the team behind this project has gone on to create a commercial company (openbionics.com, not to be confused with openbionics.org, above) which produces the robotic Hero Arm – with the option of some cool-looking superhero and Star Wars covers – their original open-source designs for robotic hands remain available to download.
Although the kits are sadly no longer available from the site’s shop, they live on through this project. There are 3D-printable parts and PCB designs that come together to make an Arduino-compatible appendage.
