Man Builds his own Bionic Hands

erco

Yahoo is on fire today! http://news.yahoo.com/photos/man-builds-himself-bionic-hands-slideshow

W9GFO

Very cool,

He spent eight years handcrafting prototypes before finally creating metal hands that could grip and hold.

... but how???

Man with no hands handcrafts new hands so that he can handcraft more hands for others with no hands?

msrobots

And what is 'bionic' on them?

don't see this

Mike

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

The ingenuity, patience, and dedication of those with the fewest resources -- not to mention generosity (in other contexts) -- never ceases to amaze me. Imagine what he could have done with a CNC mill and a MakerBot! What's most impressive about this and other posts and news blips I've seen recently, is the willingness and ability of those with the necessary skills to take medical and reconstructive issues into their own hands and produce successful results. As medical cost rise and technology becomes ever more enabling, this will become the norm, rather than the exception. Publicly available, open-source prostheses and rehab aids cannot be that far into the future.

-Phil

potatohead

Seriously. I think the guy is awesome! His solution is effective and his determination and creative ability are off the charts good. He should be feeling pretty good about it all right now --as good as one can feel having to go through all of that.

@Phil: Yes. It's going to be really interesting. It makes me think way back to the time I wired up game controllers for my left handed brother. That was a trivial thing really. Open it up, figure it out and move a few wires. But the neat part was just how empowering it was. (He began to beat me on his favorites soon after, LOL) Ordinary people, who really weren't technical actually asked a lot of questions.

Later on, it was some small mods for MR/DD people and their adaptive stuff. Sometimes the stock unit just wouldn't do the trick for some reason or other. Same dynamic there too. My wife worked in that field and I did it on my off time.

This kind of ability is intriguing to lots of people, because it could be us with some loss of mobility or limb, etc... Doesn't take much either. When this wave of lean and localized manufacturing hits the broader scope of people, really neat things are going to happen.

Humanoido

Bionic - Having anatomical structures or physiological processes that are replaced or enhanced by electronic or mechanical components. www.thefreedictionary.com

The original sources are in Chinese so Yahoo put the story in pictures for a Western audience. In this case, after the accident, he was left with only two stumps which allowed him, after years of healing, using both, to push, nudge, and awkwardly grasp some simple tools. Using his body to brace and to act as an additional tool, he was able to do simple mechanical work over great periods of time (8 years), working without money and scrounging only simple materials and tools. He initially started out with nothing, using a rock, then an old hammer to form metal over a shaping rock and a piece of scrap iron as a chisel to cut metal. Holes were not drilled but rather punched with the sharp ends of scrap. His patience, ability, zeal and positive "never give up" attitude was unbounded in his success. Now that he is helping others, and has bionic hands, he can receive some payment and the next eight years will be remarkable.

(When he first began, he created a hollow tube to wear with a spoon strapped on for eating.)

There are some additional photos blogged here showing he now has the benefit of hugging his family and can do farming work and drive a tractor. The third link has interview vids in Chinese.
http://izismile.com/2012/08/15/chinese_man_builds_himself_bionic_hands_from_scrap_20_pics.html
http://www.damncoolpictures.com/2012/08/chinese-man-builds-himself-bionic-hands.html
http://micgadget.com/28965/chinese-man-builds-himself-bionic-hands-after-losing-both-of-his-hands/

Combining the two fields, human bionics and humanoid technology, if we design open source hands for humans and humanoids, and body parts, people in need will have more readily available access to the technology. We were just discussing about how we are going to grow a type of compatible poly skin that can be used on both humans and humanoids. The duality of this new field is wide open for development.

W9GFO

Thanks Humanoido, that answers the "how" question.

prof_braino

Talk about determined to get back to work!

Gives a very literal means to "Look, Ma! No hands"

msrobots wrote: »

And what is 'bionic' on them? don't see this

Google wiki bionic. Stop typing with forehead, consider bionic alternatives.

User Name

Lots of people who could have been saved by penicillin were still dying decades after its discovery, partly because of the slow and cautious way medical research is conducted..."First do no harm." It is kind of ironic that this has been done with monkeys, yet it will be years or decades before a human amputee derives any benefit from it, and decades more before it is affordable to needy Third-World recipients.