
Teenager builds his own Lego prosthetic arms - cromulent
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-08/lego-prosthetic-arm-made-by-man-missing-limb/10792598
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jandrese
> After graduating from university, he wants to create _affordable_ prosthetic
> solutions for people who need them.

Builds them out of Lego.

Hmm.

But seriously, this is super cool. Prosthetics are usually ultra-expensive
because they get the double whammy of being bespoke and medical devices.
There's a real opportunity for the hacker community to do a lot of good here.

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cr0sh
I've recently found that the price of Lego - at least on the used/second-hand
market - has fallen, depending on what you are looking for.

Complete sets are still hella-expensive - especially vintage ones. Certain
custom models can also be very expensive. Lego Mindstorms of the past two
generations (NXT and EV3) are also still up there in price.

But bulk Mindstorms, Technic and Expert Builder are all still fairly cheap
(just stay away from pneumatics - that stuff is still pricey for some reason).

I have found the Mindstorms RCX 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 (aka - yellow programmable
brick) are all fairly cheap. The touch and light sensors aren't too expensive,
and the going price for the PB is around $30.00 USD. Rotation sensors can be
up there sometimes, and the temperature sensor is hard to find and expensive.
Motors are cheap though (the 9 volt block ones) - most can be had for around
$15.00 each.

Bulk parts are similarly low cost. Even the NXT and EV3 motors and sensors are
fairly inexpensive (not as cheap as the older RCX, but not crazy). Since they
use standard interfaces and connections, they can be easily controlled using a
Raspberry Pi or Arduino. The RCX takes a bit more work (you have to use an
h-bridge for each motor, and sensors require an ADC; easy on the Arduino, but
you need something external for the Pi).

The various Mindstorms "Vision Command" and similar cameras are also fairly
cheap; they aren't anything special - very low-res (352x488 IIRC) web cameras
in a Lego enclosure. But you can get them to work with Linux (you have to
preload the V4L1 library before executing a program like cheese or whatnot) -
this used to not be the case (no driver existed about 8 or so years ago).

But yeah - if you're ok with hitting the second-hand market via Ebay or garage
sales, you'll find it's now fairly cheap (again, staying away from things like
the latest Mindstorms).

Oh! I also found that the Lego Dacta Control Lab (9751) interface can also be
found cheaply - you can get 'em for $40-50 USD; they work with all the old 9V
sensors and motors for the RCX. I've read that you can use a USB to DB9 serial
port converter with them, and there is a ton of 3rd party libraries out there
for control (I found ones in C, C#, Python, and Java).

~~~
_mrmnmly
ah vintage ones.. Ice Planet 2002 serie, one day I'll complete you ;)

but exactly, when you spent decent amount of time at websites like bricklink
you can complete sets for a fairly lower price than usual.

It's always a good idea to check the local online market platforms as well.

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benj111
2002 isn't vintage. Now get off my lawn.

Edit: It isn't from 2002 its from 1993/94 [1], I'll buy some cookies, _then_
get off my lawn :)

[1]
[https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Ice_Planet_2002](https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Ice_Planet_2002)

~~~
quickthrower2
1993 isn’t vintage... ok this could go on and on!

~~~
benj111
Reading around, vintage seems to be pinned at about 25 - 30 years, so it is on
the cusp.

I'll get off your lawn now.

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hn_throwaway_99
I love stories like this. Honestly, I can't think of a better prototypical
example of the "hacker ethos" that this guy and what he built. Kudos and
thanks for the inspiration!

~~~
TomMarius
You might find the Merkur construction set and its relation to contact lenses
very interesting:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Wichterle](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Wichterle)

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christophclarke
Here's a video of one of his prosthetic arms in action
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrWckNLgshc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrWckNLgshc)

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vanderZwan
> _In a presentation video on his YouTube channel that he runs under the
> nickname Hand Solo, the Andorran said his aim was to show people nothing is
> impossible and disability cannot stop them._

It annoyed me more than it should that they did not link to his channel:

[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSjwgNfrF5oTp1PdBrsptKA](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSjwgNfrF5oTp1PdBrsptKA)

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xfactor973
Wow that is incredible. Nicely done!

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spundliktorix
If then uses his prosthetics to create better prosthetics, does qualify as
singularity?

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ianrentsb
OMG! Thanks for the story. It's so inspiring. We need such good news everyday

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lizardwalk5
that is really awesome. thanks for sharing!

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refurb
I think when he actually go into production and jumps through all the
regulatory hopes, it's probably not going to be that affordable any more.

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quickthrower2
It could be open source and even 3D printable.

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offbytwo
how does one build arms without arms?

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cjsawyer
How does one comment without opening the article?

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offbytwo
Forgot no humor allowed here

