DEKA (Segway) bionic arm

[Dr Mordrid]

Video @ IEEE Spectrum....

Story....

Invented by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway.

[NetSnake]

that guy looks ridiculous...

[Mehen]

that guy looks ridiculous...

True, but its impressive nonetheless. They should have a demo of him wiping his own butt. I think that'd be more rewarding than using a drill.

Can't wait to see what they will have in another 10 years!

[NetSnake]

or holding a huge glass of beer to match his beer belly

the arm is very impressive

[Mehen]

Really gets you thinking about how much we take for granted. When I think of losing my arms the first things I think of are hockey and typing. And certain activities which are usually accompanied by pron

But all the little things, covering your mouth when you sneeze, wiping your butt, scratching an itch, picking your nose... its an endless list.

So kudos to all those who aid in the development of prosthetic limbs!

[NetSnake]

Somewhat related article

Device Gives New Meaning to "Power Walking"

By Devin Powell
ScienceNOW Daily News
7 February 2008

The latest fad in self-powered wrist wear is the kinetic watch, a device that converts the momentum of a swinging arm into milliwatts. But researchers have unveiled a new accessory for your knees that puts the trendy timepiece to shame. Generating more than 1000 times more energy, the "Biomechanical Energy Harvester" may provide a green way to power the portable devices of the future.
Every time you take a step, you use two different groups of powerful muscles connected to the knee. The first group pushes to kick the lower leg out. Just before full extension, the second group pulls to put the brakes on. But for Max Donelan, director of the Simon Fraser University Locomotion Laboratory in Burnaby, Canada, and his colleagues, this braking process is just useful energy going to waste. His team has created a modified knee brace with a drive train that converts the mechanical energy into electricity. "A similar principle is used in hybrid cars to make electricity when you press the brakes; it's called generative braking," says Donelan.

Six volunteers wore the braces while they walked on treadmills. Embedded sensors detected the angle and velocity of their legs, switching the device on only during the braking phase of each swing. As the team reports tomorrow in Science, the braces produced 5 watts of power--enough to run 10 cell phones. And although it took a bit more effort to swing the added weight of the brace--the prototype weighs 1.6 kg--the walkers didn't have to work harder when the power-harvesting mechanism was turned on. The amount of oxygen they consumed--a measure of metabolism and effort--didn't increase. "Our generator actually helps your muscles out," says Donelan, "by decelerating your limbs for you."

If the researchers can lighten the load of the device, the first users will likely be people whose lives depend on reliable, portable power: patients with insulin pumps, for example. Douglas Weber, a team member and mechanical engineer at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania, believes that it will also be incorporated into the design of cutting-edge neuroprostheses--artificial limbs directly controlled by brainwaves and deep-brain stimulators for Parkinson's disease patients. Eventually, the device might prove useful for anyone off the main power grid: soldiers, relief workers, hikers, even normal folks with cell phones and personal digital assistants.

According to Lawrence Rome, a biologist at the University of Pennsylvania who designed a biomechanical backpack years ago (ScienceNOW, 8 September 2005), this is the most sophisticated attempt to harness biomechanical energy to date. "Other people have thought about trying to get energy out of joints," says Rome, "but only Donelan and his team saw the opportunity to use braking motion." He wonders what other powerful joints we could tap for energy--shoulders, maybe, or even elbows.

[Dr Mordrid]

Can't wait to see what they will have in another 10 years!

Another arm from Johns Hopkins should be going into clinical trials late this year or early '09 that has a hand with 25 ways of motion (real ones have 30), has senses of touch, temperature and pressure & is dexterous enough to play the piano. Just one of many efforts being funded by DARPA and the military.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/08/bionic_arm

Below are the hands developed by (left) Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and (right) Johns Hopkins University

Of course anything developed in this program could also be used in humanoid robots.

[Evildead666]

... And certain activities which are usually accompanied by pron
...

The pressure sensors are not there yet
You might just bionically squash the poor thing

mwahahAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AH!!!!!

[KRSESQ]

Imagine the batteries that thing would need.

That problem overcome, imagine the expense! Neither insurance or medicare would pay for the thing, because it wouldn't be considered "essential."

("What the Hell does he need that fancy-shmancy bionic arm for? He's been doing fine with a hook for all these years. DENIED!")

It would end up being an out-of-pocket expense for most people, and this thing looks like it would be comparable in price to a fully equipped Cadillac.

Kevin

[NetSnake]

it's a start.
sooner or (probably) later the price will be low enough to be included in the insurances' lists

[Dr Mordrid]

Imagine the batteries that thing would need.

Not batteries; MIT's microturbine/nano-turbine generators. They run on alcohol and the tank, generator etc. would fit into the size of an old-style 6 volt lantern battery.

[Claymonkey]

It amazes me how much this specific area of tech has evolved in my lifetime alone. The last few years have been especially impressive.. but Science is an exponetial curve, and this is a prime example. It wasn't that many years ago that they first started having success with hooking up to nerves and learning how to retrain the brain to use something 'new'.

Netsnake - are you suffering from the Uncanny Valley about that arm? Wiki

[Dr Mordrid]

Frankenstein complex?

[NetSnake]

Netsnake - are you suffering from the Uncanny Valley about that arm? Wiki

yes, and I also suffer from homophobia

I was referring to the guy's face and expression not to the arm.

Its amazing how fast some people try to diagnose a "condition" by simply reading a line of text. you must be a genious.

[Claymonkey]

No I just really like the concept of Uncanny Valley, and I knew why you thought he was ridiculous. He's a plump 50ish year old man with the same facial expression of a baby learning to walk or use his hands. FAR less cute and leading towards creepy. Besides I don't think of Uncanny Valley as a condition, more a human mindset. The theory states that there is a wall/valley we all will hit as things become more 'human' and that arm in motion feels far more human to me than a rubber hand prosthetic.

*shrug* but if you want to get defensive about it sure go ahead, even though I wasn't trying to label you. Though... and I'm just as guilty of sloppy grammar/spelling when I post here... if you're going to insult me back spell genius right.