

Dean Kamen's Robot Arm - kingkawn
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/05/dean-kamens-rob/

======
mdasen
This is why the Segway annoys me so much. Dean Kamen has an amazing ability to
create things that restore great dignity to those who have had unfortunate
events remove certain biological function. The iBOT, for those who don't know
what it was, was a gyroscopic wheelchair that could go up curbs of up to 5
inches, climb stairs, and even allow the person to travel and "stand" at a
height comparable to the height of a standing human being. The amount of
dignity and function that it enabled was tremendous. Likewise, this new
prosthesis looks amazing. Truly a wonderful thing for anyone in such an
unfortunate situation. While somewhat odd looking today, I don't think it's
hard to imagine it with some flesh-toned cloth over it (or better material)
which really helps one both look and function and fit in well.

And that's what annoys me about the segway. Kamen has such a great engineering
mind for things that so greatly affect a person's quality of life - truly
life-changing inventions for many people. And then there's the segway. The
segway doesn't seem to solve any problem - people have legs, there are a
number of ways to balance vehicles that don't need something so fancy to
stabilize themselves (bikes, scooters, mopeds), etc. And it takes his genius
away from building amazing things like this which can transform people's lives
in the way I wish I could help and touch someone as much as he can.

The part where the person was able to feed himself for the first time in 13
years made me tear up. Imagine being able to give that back to someone who had
lost it. And it isn't just the function - it's the dignity that comes along
with it.

~~~
pingu
I think I'm missing your point about "dignity".

As per your sentiment , we should all be doing whatever we can to restore
dignity to those that need it.If you ask that of Kamen , you should certainly
ask for it from yourself.

You are presumably reading this on a computer you own , and drive to work on a
car you own. You can increase the dignity of a number of people by selling
both and donating the proceeds to a worthwhile charity. ( I can think of few
things more dignified , than say , for a starving kid in India to be able to
go to bed with a full stomach for one night). And charities like giveindia.org
make this very possible ...

And yet you haven't ... You might argue that there is no way you could do
without either.

How is Kamen's "indulgence" in building a Segway any different? The starving
people would be annoyed with you too,as you indulge yourself with luxuries
like cars and computers , when they have to debase themselves just to feed
themselves and their families.

(No offence intended. :) When I say "you" , I mean us )

~~~
camccann
_You are presumably reading this on a computer you own , and drive to work on
a car you own. You can increase the dignity of a number of people by selling
both and donating the proceeds to a worthwhile charity. ( I can think of few
things more dignified , than say , for a starving kid in India to be able to
go to bed with a full stomach for one night). And charities like giveindia.org
make this very possible ..._

Remember the old saying, "give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a
man to fish and feed him for life"? You're talking about the former. Kamen's
inventions that mdasen mentions are like the latter.

Not that helping people out isn't good, but creating tools that let them help
themselves is incomparably better. Kamen has demonstrated an ability to do
that in ways that most people just can't.

------
seldo
I can think of no sentence that more sounds like the 2009 I dreamed of than
"Dean Karmen showed some video of the impressive, mind-controlled robot arm
he's invented".

You look at the video and it's clear that the only thing preventing the
creation of gigantic robotic exoskeleton battlesuits is budget.

~~~
stcredzero
Well, that, and they're not very practical. They're big targets, expensive,
and don't provide any real advantages in modern combat.

Sarcos corporation developed hydraulically actuated arms with full haptic
force-feedback interfaces.

<http://www.sarcos.com/teleop_videos.html>

I especially like the little video of the large-size arm casually holding an
anvil like it's a mug!

If you want mecha, you could do a full-body haptic harness with such existing
technology. Make the mecha big enough so that it could contain the pilot and
keep his head's orientation the same as the mecha's, and the _pilot's own
inner ear becomes your dynamic stabilizer!_

If you want to build a smaller mecha, immobilize the head/neck and put the
harness in the belly. It would still have mobility like someone wearing full
plate armor.

~~~
berntb
How about... instead of arms, four (or six) legs? Like a dog, but with
retractable wheels at the bottom of the feet so it can go a bit faster on flat
terrain but use the legs otherwise.

Hang on some sensors. For weapon systems, a small turret with a heavy machine
gun and maybe a mortar. Or something.

In sum, a small jeep that you strap yourself into which can go through any
terrain, if it so has to climb.

It wouldn't be as visible as a mecha for targeting. Some carrying capacity. It
should be able to carry wounded on top.

Nah... it would be an inferior version of this:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandvagn_206>

------
NathanKP
What I find most interesting is that as the test subject is talking it appears
that he is unconsciously gesturing with his robotic arm. Apparently then its
use is relatively intuitive and natural such that he can use it express
himself as well as pick things up.

~~~
ars
The brain is very interesting - it doesn't have a fixed set of input/output
"ports".

Instead it can use whatever is connected to it.

For example someone attached a vibrating belt that always vibrated on the
north side of his body. After a while the person wearing it does not
consciously notice it vibrating, instead they basically have a new sense -
they just always "know" where north is.

Output works the same way - after playing a game for a while you don't need to
think: press this finger or that one - you just want the character to do move,
and your fingers do it automatically.

If you use a tool for a long time, it essentially becomes (to the brain) an
extension of your body.

So same with this device - it doesn't have to be intuitive - after a while it
simply becomes a part of his body. The brain does not see it as "else" it's
simply another limb.

~~~
dkokelley
A fun experiment relating to the brain's ability to rewire itself:

Put your hand under one of these toys like the image:
<http://ubuyonline.com.au/images/toys/pictures%20018_0.jpg>

Now put an object or your other hand on the other side of the pins (between
the pins and the plastic). Watch your transposed 'fingers' interact with the
object. Eventually you will start to feel like your fingers have actually
moved to the end of the pins.

I think this is the brain rewiring itself to correlate spacial sensation to
what the eyes are observing. No matter what causes this, it's an interesting
sensation.

~~~
cjenkins
In a similar theme, virtual reality has been tested to relieve phantom limb
pain from missing limbs.

<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/29102443.html>

It's amazing how adaptable the human body/mind is sometimes.

------
cglee
Would be scary if it caught those flashing moments of doing something extreme
all of us experience and acted on it (ie, walking by a ledge and thinking of
throwing your new laptop off it).

~~~
RevRal
_walking by a ledge and thinking of throwing your new laptop off it_

Whoa, that just gave me chills. When I used to work for fast food, every time
I walked by the deep fryer with a bucket of ice I'd wonder about all the
things that would happen if I just decided to dump in the ice.

~~~
jmagar
A whole bucket might chill the oil sufficiently to reduce the risk... But I
can tell you a single ice cube does make a mess, and a lot of noise.

First the cube sinks, so you won't be able to get it back easily if you want
to abort. It rattles around the bottom of the fryer as it melts and then
converts to steam. The bubbles of steam rise and splatter violently.

(I got in a bit of trouble that night, as the patrons could hear the commotion
in the dining room.)

------
hristov
Well, I am glad Kamen decided to fall back to his core competency.

------
indranil
I'd insert a cyborg joke here, but it seems too cliched and insensitive when
the invention looks this brilliant!

------
rw
More accurate titles:

 _Dean Kamen's Cyborg Arm_

 _Dean Kamen's Cybernetic Prosthesis_

