If you have ever looked at the prosthetic marketplace, you know that things like prosthetic arms are expensive. This page lays out the cost factor like this:

Depending on the degree of amputation,
today’s state of the art prosthetic arms can
cost patients about $100,000 or more.
DEKA’s goal is to keep the cost of the Luke
Arm as close to the $100,000 as possible.

Yikes!

So now along comes a teenager who is able to build a functional gripper for almost nothing. What he needs is a motor to act as the “muscle” for the gripper and a way to actuate the motor. Here’s what he’s developed (could skip the first minute) :

The arm in use:

What is needed next, it looks like, is a functioning elbow motor/joint.

This article gives additional details:

Giving dad a helping hand

Since Luke made the device, he and his father joined forces to fine tune it and came up with new and improved versions.

The latest model, which they call version VC, is made of aluminium plates and is operated with the motor of a printer. It has rubber tips to help him grip small objects and neck controls from where Mr Calleja can open and close the claw using his chin.

His son’s modification only cost a handful of euros – buying an electric prosthetic would have set them back about €51,000.

As Mr Calleja and his son keep working on improvements to the electric claw, he remains hopeful that one day he will be able to ride his motorcycle with his friends again. His rider friends are already working on turning his old bike into a four-wheeler – the Tri Bird – and are currently collecting money to complete it.

As you look at it, it makes you wonder how a “state of the art prosthetic arm” (as mentioned above) can cost as much as two Corvettes. Or six Hyundai Sonatas. That is hard to fathom.

See also:
- The state of the art in prosthetic arms
- How Prosthetic Limbs Work

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