Design of a 3D-printed EMG bionic hand as a low-cost alternative to prosthetic limbs
Design of a 3D-printed EMG bionic hand as a low-cost alternative to prosthetic limbs
Arduino Team — November 25, 2022
The cost of a new prosthetic arm can range from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands, putting them out of reach for many people. Ahmad Ikram recognized this need and decided to design and build a much cheaper open source version that has myoelectric capabilities.
To begin this project, Ikram decided to use the InMoov 3D printed arm design by French sculptor Gael Langevin due to its ease of construction. The hand itself contains a single wire connected to each finger, while the other end is wrapped around a servo horn so the finger can bend whenever the serv moves. A Myoware muscle sensor is responsible for reading electrical signals generated by muscle contractions and converting them into a readable analog voltage, which is read by the analog pin of an Arduino Nano.
The program created by Ikram for the Arduino simply takes continuous readings from the myoelectric sensor and checks if it exceeds a certain threshold. Once this is the case, the servos are set to a position to contract the finger, otherwise this releases the thread tension and causes the fingers to return to their original position.
To learn more about this project, you can read Ikram's post here on Instructables and watch his demo video below.
Arduino Team — November 25, 2022
The cost of a new prosthetic arm can range from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands, putting them out of reach for many people. Ahmad Ikram recognized this need and decided to design and build a much cheaper open source version that has myoelectric capabilities.
To begin this project, Ikram decided to use the InMoov 3D printed arm design by French sculptor Gael Langevin due to its ease of construction. The hand itself contains a single wire connected to each finger, while the other end is wrapped around a servo horn so the finger can bend whenever the serv moves. A Myoware muscle sensor is responsible for reading electrical signals generated by muscle contractions and converting them into a readable analog voltage, which is read by the analog pin of an Arduino Nano.
The program created by Ikram for the Arduino simply takes continuous readings from the myoelectric sensor and checks if it exceeds a certain threshold. Once this is the case, the servos are set to a position to contract the finger, otherwise this releases the thread tension and causes the fingers to return to their original position.
To learn more about this project, you can read Ikram's post here on Instructables and watch his demo video below.
What's Your Reaction?
