Colorado Teen Designs Robotic Arm With 3D Printing

coolnumbr12 writes "A Colorado teenager has used 3D printing to create a robotic prosthetic arm that is fully functional and costs less than $500 to make. At TedxMileHigh in Denver, Colo., 17-year-old Easton LaChappelle demonstrated his robotic arm, and how he constructed the arm to keep costs low. 'So in the end, I built this robotic arm up to the shoulder which was extremely strong,' LaChapelle said. 'It could toss balls to you, it could shake your hand, it could pretty much do anything a human could if you program it correctly.'"

Comments

I can see the big boys killing this

[advocate_one]

with all kinds of regulations and safety cases that have to be complied with... things they can cope with because they're so large, but little upstart companies can't afford to comply with...

Re:I can see the big boys killing this

[TubeSteak]

with all kinds of regulations and safety cases that have to be complied with... things they can cope with because they're so large, but little upstart companies can't afford to comply with...

You have no idea WTF you're talking about.
Generic "zomg too much regulation comments" almost always get upmodded and are almost always full of shit.
Prostheses are more or less exempt from any FDA regulation that would make them expensive.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=890.3420

Sec. 890.3420 External limb prosthetic component.

(b)Classification. Class I (general controls). The device is exempt from the premarket notification procedures in subpart E of part 807 of this chapter, subject to the limitations in 890.9. The device is also exempt from the current good manufacturing practice requirements of the quality system regulation in part 820 of this chapter, with the exception of 820.180, regarding general requirements concerning records and 820.198, regarding complaint files.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=890.9

Sec. 890.9 Limitations of exemptions from section 510(k) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act).

The exemption from the requirement of premarket notification (section 510(k) of the act) for a generic type of class I or II device is only to the extent that the device has existing or reasonably foreseeable characteristics of commercially distributed devices within that generic type or, in the case of in vitro diagnostic devices, only to the extent that misdiagnosis as a result of using the device would not be associated with high morbidity or mortality. [...]

[A list of reasons when your product is not exempt]

There's someone, somewhere, who had to spend money for the FDA to approve the first brain--computer--limb interface, but after that, everyone gets a free ride.

Re:I can see the big boys killing this

[LifesABeach]

The kid still did it.

Who dares, Wins

If you program it correctly

[Anonymous Coward]

There's the problem, making something that looks like a prosthetic arm is the easy part. Programming it to make it work, as well as ensuring that it is durable enough for an arm is the remaining 90% of the work he has to do.

Not a gun

[Oligonicella]

Glad to see /. can find better articles on 3D printing.

Re:Not a gun

[erroneus]

yes. Not a gun. Not a figurine of some anime-sex-thing. But so what?

3D printing is a means of creation. This guy would have resorted to wood work if he didn't have 3D printing.

17 years old

[Anonymous Coward]

I know exactly how this 17 year old is going to program this arm.

Let's just say, it'll only move up and down.

Re:17 years old

[TWX]

Just as long as he doesn't load the wrong program so that it thinks it's holding a screwdriver and is about to begin twisting...

And this can't happen without capitalism!

[erroneus]

Every time I hear someone say that artists won't create without being paid. That's a lie. It's the publishers who want to be paid. Artists just want to create and not die of starvation but artists don't need to be paid -- they can get jobs too.

This guy is an artist. A brilliant artist, but an artist just the same. He doesn't just engineer things. He creates things.

My heart will sink when I see some giant company snatch this guy up and the things he makes get marked back up to that $80,000 mark again.

We see what's wrong with the world and "the system" (we say the system so we don't have to blame people directly right?) and we just go on without saying anything about it. I hope people start saying things. You don't have to do anything -- just say something. Say something to businesses out there. They might ignore you or me, but they won't ignore everyone -- they can't.

Change the world. Just say something.

How Many Patents Did He Violate?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the real question.

Don't show how it moves or is being controlled

[Anonymous Coward]

If anyone watched the video, he talks about how want to control it wirelessly. Also shows the robotic arm, even on stage.

But he doesn't attempt to show how it moves or is controlled what would be what everybody is expecting to see.

At least it's not about guns.

[mark_reh]

I'm so sick of the press' obsession with 3D printed guns. Almost as sick as I am of my fellow American's infantile obsession with things that go "bang!". Maybe fireworks should be legalized everywhere so that people can get their dose of "bang!" without having to resort to flinging bits of metal through the air at lethal velocities.