Richard Van As, a developer who resides in South Africa, is currently working on a prosthetic replacement for his hand that had already lost a quartet of fingers in an accident. Working alongside Washington-based prop manufacturer Ivan Owen, they came up with what they call the Robohand, which has also brought joy to a five-year old child in South Africa. This budget-priced prosthetic is said to function like a charm when it comes to grabbing objects, and it comprises of extremely simple parts, where among them include nylon cord, rubber thimbles for the fingers and cables.

The clever use of a 3D printer helped develop a portion of the parts, and piecing everything together is a snap, and the entire project just cost approximately $150, which is a whole lot less than what a high tech robotic hand would cost. Owen mentioned, “Rich and I would like to really fine-tune this, and then be able to teach other people how to make this, and spread this idea – get it out to people that are in need of it so that people can access this without having to pay thousands of dollars.”

Filed in Robots..

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