Industrial engineer Guillermo Martinez purchased his first 3D printer for $172 in 2017, and them promptly started watching YouTube tutorials that showed how to build robots and other devices for fun. One day, he stumbled upon a tutorial for a prosthetic hand, and that video changed his life forever.
This project develops collapsible devices that lets you to grasp and hold objects up to 22 pounds in weight. One of its major advantages is they only costs $50 each. They are made of plastic and their mechanism consists of high-tension wires and rubber bands — this combination, when a person’s natural joint is rotated, creates a prehensile movement in the fingers of the prosthesis.
- Build your own awesome, wearable mechanical hand that you operate with your own fingers.
- No motors, no batteries — just the power of air pressure, water, and your own hands!
- Hydraulic pistons enable the mechanical fingers to open and close and grip objects with enough force to lift them. Every finger joint can be adjusted...
I started making many 3D-printed hand prostheses for fun…then I thought to myself, ‘what if this can actually help someone?’ I had already prepared my trip to Kenya and I contacted the NGO Bamba Project, as well as one of the orphanages that operates in Kenya. I didn’t think I was going to find anyone,” said Martinez.
