$30 Prosthetic Hand Project - Initial 3d renders

Hi there,

The aim of this project is to create a rugged, but functional prosthetic hand that could be made using simple hand tools and easy obtainable materials, in areas of the world that aren’t serviced by mainstream medical care.
This prosthetic hand may not look pretty, but it will be more than capable of performing the tasks it was designed for.

A .pdf containing full plans, and instructions will be made available for free download.
The total cost for each hand, including the socket will be no more than $30 (if the materials need to be purchased), or free if materials are available to upcycle.

The hand is a body controlled, brake cable activated grip prehensor and is currently designed in an adult size, but a smaller children’s size version will also be made available.
Millions of people in poverty stricken countries worldwide are affected by upper limb loss and as a result their lives, and those of their family are severely affected.

The aim of this project is to go some way to rectifying this situation.

This limb currently has the ability to tilt at the wrist, I’m currently working on a wrist rotator with would allow the hand to rotate 180 degrees.

All the very best

Dave

7 Likes

AWESOME. Can’t wait to watch this develop!

I am very interested in this type of work. Please share all you can.

Hi Andrew,

Thank you so much!! The sooner I get this project finished, the better as far as I’m concerned…watch this space!!

All the very best

Dave

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Hi there Tony,

It’s going to be well worth the effort!!

All the very best

Dave

Dave

This is a great project. One thought. If you wanted help from the folks here on the forum and you were doing the CAD work in Fusion360 or Onshape.com you could share the design and get input and design help from the forum members.

Also if you wanted to go from design to making the hand for third world amputees then there is a ton of folks here that could ban together as a team and make the hands.

Dave
Ariel, WA

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Tony No

We need to get Dave Sullivan involved in our Saturday hangout.

Dave
Ariel,WA

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Hi Dave,

Thank you so much for your support!! This project means a lot to me!!

Any help from forum members would be greatly appreciated!!

I’m a Solidworks user, so as far as the CAD side of things goes I’ll have to look into the best export format to enable me to share the CAD files. Failing that…and as I’ve always enjoyed learning new packages:) it might be worth me taking a look at Fusion360!!

Great idea, re: asking for assistance from forum members to help make some hands…it would be so cool to be able to actually send a batch out assembled!!

Thank you so much again!!!

Very best wishes

Dave

Re: Saturday hangout…sounds good to me!!

Dave
I ask John Scherer to invite you to our Sat night hangout. We generally start at 6 pm PST and go for up to 3 hours talking CNC and other stuff.

Where in the world are you located. We have EST, CST and PST zone members

Dave

Dave
Here is a link to last Sat hangout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOuAV_NJ5JA

Dave

FWIW, OnShape can load Solidworks files. It was created by the people that created Solidworks.

Hi Tony,

Superb news!! Problem solved:)

Many thanks indeed!!

Dave

Hi there,

Just watching one of the Saturday Hangout videos on YouTube…count me in, looks like fun!!!

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i’d be glad to help as well. i’m part to the CNC hangout group with Dave and Tony. however i’m a Fusion 360 user but i’m sure we can figure it out!

Hi Andrew,

Fantastic!!! Welcome to the $30 Prosthetic Hand Dev team!!! Thankfully you can import SolidWorks Files (*.prt, *.asm, *.sldprt, *.sldasm files into Fusion360.
I’ll be taking part in the hangout on Saturday…maybe we could all have a chat about the hand then?

Thank you so much!!

All the very best

Dave

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Dave

Do you have any SW files you would care to share. I have SW so I can open your files.

Sending private message with my Email and skype info if you use skype.

Dave
Ariel, WA

Hi David,

Thank you so much for your message.

I’m going to create an assembly of the new version of the hand over the next few days. As soon as it’s finished I will email it over to you.

All the very best

Dave

Dave

I see a Dave Sullivan in Bristol on skype is that you?

Hi there David,

Not me…I don’t use Skype that often. I will find out my Skype account name, and message it to you.

All the best

Dave