Build your very own bionic finger contolled by you!
Why do we need prosthetic limbs?
Prosthetic limbs are a necessary part in the improvement of life and rehabilitation of a person with a completely or partly missing limb. Prosthetic limbs can be nothing short of life changing to their recipients aiding them to perform necessary tasks
crucial to their ability to stay independent.
Imagine not being able to use you thumb. Try it! As you can see everyday activities that you take for granted everyday become nearly impossible just without your thumb let alone a whole arm. In fact the American Medical Association states that
loosing the use of your thumb is actually equivalent to loosing 22% of body function. The availability of prosthetic limbs aids nearly 2 million people a year helping them complete normal tasks in which we take for granted everyday. These people
don't deserve to loose the use of their limb.
Loosing the use of your limb doesn't just effect you physical health but it can seriously alter the state of mental health of a person. Many amputees that loose their limbs have a dramatic change in their lifestyle. Some may be extremely active
but once they loose their limb they are unable to do what they love to do which can cause mental health issues. A study conducted in a university demonstartes clearly the increase in depression after the loss of a limb. This increase was approximately
94%.
Materials
Arduino board ->This stores the code from your computer and tells the servo how much to move
Flexi sensor -> This will sense how much you actual finger moves so it can then make the bionic finger move
Servo -> The motor that causes the finger to move
3D printed finger in three parts -> This is what the finger is made of
Plastic sheet -> This will be cut into smaller parts which will connect the three parts of the finger together and allow movement
Clear fishing string -> This is threaded through the finger and connected to the servo so when the servo rotates in a specific direction at a specific angle the finger is moved up or down
Battery pack and betteries -> This will supply the arduino board and servo power when not connected to your computer
Computer with arduino software -> This is where you will wirte your code and upload it to the arduino board
Cord -> connects the arduino to your computer USB port
Hot glue gun -> To glue together the parts of the finger
Wooden board -> To glue your finger on
Rubber glove -> To glue your flexi sensor on to
Construction
Organise you three parts or you finger and cut the plastic into 1cm by 2cm pieces.
Hot glue the pieces of plastic into place within the semi circular joints on the finger, do this for every joint in the finger
Thread the fishing string through the wholes on the top of the three parts of the finger and hot glue the top of the string to the tip of the finger
Hot glue the bottom part (larget part) of the finger to the end of the wooden plank with the top two parts hanging over the edge
Thread the sring coming out of the end of the finger though the holes on the servo tying a knot at the bottom so it doesn't fall out when the servo moves
Hot glue the servo to the wooden board far enough away from the finger that when prepeler is twistes the full way the finger is completely bent
Glue the corners of the Arduino board to the wood making sure that the hot glue doesn't touch any metal
// Include Servo library
#include
Servo myservo; // create servo object to control a servo
void setup() {
// setup code here to run once
myservo.attach(9); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
pinMode(A0, INPUT_PULLUP);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here to run repeatedly
// variable to store the current angle
int flexSensor=analogRead(A0);
int angle=(flexSensor-380);
Serial.println(angle);
