Tuesday, October 13, 2015

“Start-up” Japan creates mechanical arm prosthesis for 90% cheaper – La Jornada (Bolivia)

A “start-up” Japan has designed an electronic prosthetic arm with full functions for gripping objects, whose price is about one-tenth the current market value, which could allow widespread use of robotic prostheses.

The EXIII company, founded in 2014 exingenieros of three tech giants Sony and Panasonic has designed a prototype electric arm whose cost would be far from 1.5 million yen (11,015 euros / 12,516 US dollars) which currently costs to acquire a mechanical model, newspaper Nikkei.

To achieve this, the “start-up” has built a simple prosthesis that can grasp objects easily without using complex and expensive systems such as cerebral connection or independent mechanical movement of each finger. Sensors tied around the user’s arm detect muscle signals. Depending on the degree of muscle contraction expansion and the angle of the fingers, which are linked to a built-in engine automatically switches prosthesis. In addition to greater technical simplicity, that allows to build cheaper models, 3D printers EXIII been used to manufacture about 60 parts of the prosthesis, and using components commonly used as motors and microcomputers. In short, the cost of materials is around 30,000 yen, allowing a significant reduction in price, the company said the Japanese newspaper. Unlike conventional prostheses, mechanical prototypes provide the user with greater functionality, but its price is much higher. The three engineers (Genta Kondo, Hiroshi Yamaura and Tetsuya Konishi) designed his first prototype in 2013, “handiii” which won the James Dyson award from the eponymous American Foundation to the most innovative proposals applied to daily use, and in 2014 they created an improved version, “handiii Coyote”. In April this year, the company introduced its latest electric arm, “Hackberry” Good Design Award 2015 contest held in Chicago. The “start-up” Japan plans to develop its technology to a commercially viable level for the next 2016, with the goal of increasing domestic use in 2018, Nikkei said.

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