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`Bionic' Arm Brings Back Sense of Touch

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-can-rebuild-him dept.

bdcrazy writes "Two way communication with prosthetic devices allows man who lost both arms in an accident to feel hot and cold, to sense objects and to actually move the prosthetic device to pick things up and put them down. "

6 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. Peltier Junction by Enigma_Man · · Score: 5, Informative

    These work using a peltier junction. For those not "in-the-know", peltier junctions are basically chunks of metal that push heat to one side when you run current through them one way, and the other side when you run current through them the other way. This provides a cold, and a hot side that can be varied very quickly from cold to hot, by changing the amount and direction of the current. They are very inefficient though, requiring a lot of current that is generated as excess heat overall. These are commonly used to cool processor cores down, pushing more heat into the heatsink, but keeping the core cooler than it would be with just a heatsink.

    -Jesse

    --
    Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
    1. Re:Peltier Junction by RapmasterT · · Score: 3, Informative
      These are commonly used to cool processor cores down, pushing more heat into the heatsink, but keeping the core cooler than it would be with just a heatsink.
      I'd disagree that they're "commonly used" for CPU cooling. Peltier heat sink assemblies have fallen way out of vogue in the last few years and were never particularly popular in the first place. Problems like generating a significantly higher amount of waste heat, while simultaneously creating a frost (no kidding) and condensation problem made them extremely impractical when faced with water cooling options.

      That being said, peltier cooling IS commonly used in those little desk top refridgerators and portable DC cooler/warmers that you see for sale in RV catalogs.

  2. more technical article by Formica · · Score: 5, Informative
    Here's an article with a little more details on the technical end:

    Rewired, amputee lifts arm with mind

  3. Re:Nice by Quirk · · Score: 4, Informative

    When good hands go bad.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  4. Re:Masturbating. by Weaselmancer · · Score: 2, Informative

    I believe the term you're looking for is a Stranger. =)

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  5. Accidents happen, you insensitive clod! by mangu · · Score: 2, Informative
    Was this one of those famous, "Hold my beer and watch this!" situations that seem to have become so well known?


    Most probably not. There was a similar case in an electric power company where I used to work years ago. This is how it happened: A maintenance crew was doing a job in a 180MW generator in a power plant. While an engineer was holding simultaneously the 13800 volts busbar, with a short-circuit current of 20000 amps, with one hand and the grounded rack with the other hand, someone closed the breaker. The engineer's arms were instantly carbonized, he died three days later.


    This accident wasn't caused by stupidity, but by bad coordination. After this, the company instituted a security measure to avoid it happening again. The breaker controls in all power stations were fitted with a protecting bar with several holes matching a stud in the panel. Everyone working in the generator puts a padlock through one of the hole pairs, and keeps the key. The breaker can be closed again only after every padlock has been removed.