e-NABLE project vote

Project 1) SKELLINGTON FINGER (overhaul of Knick's design):

(I have already done some of the work)

issues that need an upgrade:

1) types of material used (the current design requires printing in TPU/flexible)

2) number of parts needs reducing

3) assembly is over complicated

4) adjustment system is not precise

5) lack of adjustability to a user's real dimensions (which can change during the use) (not all users have a cilindrical finger)

6) needs better attachment to the hand to increase grip strength

7) way to improve friction grip?

other utilities:

1) full tutorial of mounting, assembly and setup, with both video and infographics style

2) find a way to provide easy adjustments of parameters for the makers

3) print without supports

4) use skins (easily changeable covers)

5) have the rotation point in-line with the tip of the limb (so the finger isn't weirdly long)

Parameters(subject to change):

-flush offset

-rotation offset

-core size (nail/filament)

-each link's size (finger remains, middle and distal phalange)

-base finger diameter

Functionality type:

-Flexion - pull motion (string)

-Extension - auto pull motion (elastic string)

known issues: the elastic extensor counters the user's grip force.

I believe this are other projects with a high chance:

Project 2) a print in place finger design

Project 3) Skeletical/Minimal palm holder with skins.

Project 4) Rework of popular hands into Fusion 360/Onshape - by public demand

Project 5) Rework of the popular hands with the most common modifications (pilot has a thumb/has a finger, etc)

For those that I haven’t met yet, my name is Alexander, I’m a Plymouth, UK Robotics BEng fresh graduate, and I’ve been working (volunteer unpaid collaboration work) with e-NABLE’s Collaborative Design Team (we aim to create an overhaul of the kinetic and phoenix designs, improving functionality and providing the CAD files) for the past couple of months, with moderate success. It has been brought to my attention that Loomio and the voting process can support individuals’ projects. I plan to work on these projects anyway, but the paid opportunity means I can focus solely on them. It is meant only to support me during the periods of work. My (self) estimation is around 2000 pounds ( 2800 dollars) per month, which is then divided by the actual work hours a project demands.

Anyway, here are the project topics that I found interesting and are in close relationship with what I’ve done so far:

1) Skellington Finger (Knick’s design, overhauled. Improved fitting, functionality and manufacturing). This includes skin prototypes, and is designed around use of wires, not solid filament

2) a print in place finger design (already partially tested, both as a partial finger amputation and as a full modular finger for hand designs)

3) Skeletical/Minimal palm holder with skins. a palm that is as minimalistic as possible, leaving many holes in the design for faster printing and improved air circulation. supports skins, so the pilot’s hand is not necessarily visible.

4) Rework of popular hands into Fusion 360/Onshape - by public demand

5) Rework of the popular hands with the most common modifications (pilot has a thumb/has a finger, etc)

This is the main list. More ideas that will probably be less popular:

6) dedicated CAD helper for EWC and chapters that require assistance with cases.

7) mathematical analysis of the workings of our hand devices. This includes strength computation, limitations, based on given dimensions such as diameter of finger and wrist joints, expected use angles of the actuation(wrist) and so on.

8) formal strength analysis of different devices. (by public choice) this can be load testing, joint load testing, weird angles, repetitive loads and their effects, difference between actuation types (solid filament or wires) etc.

9) Idea testing of scanning and using phone photos to recreate a hand model using a normal phone and RTX based neural networks (system is already developed, needs testing. The idea of having people send in photos and farming them on more powerful PCs such as mine has been thrown around)

10) A dedicated GENERALIZED project that can easily adapt to the harder cases seen recently. This can involve using chainmails, scannings, or massive custom bone pickers to generate a desired design.

11) an Exoskeletal type hand, that augments the use of a pilot’s fingers, to help occupational therapists.

Note 1: Skins refer to fairings that can be easily mounted and changed on a design. Much like a candy wrapper, they serve no functional purpose, just expressing the pilot’s mood or personality.

Note 2: for the ones marked public or public choice, please feel free to suggest specific ideas you’d like to see.

If you’ve made it this far in the post, congratulations, you’re amazing. The idea is to choose the most liked project and make a formal proposal on Loomio in the following week, and get it done as fast as possible, then rinse and repeat. Some of the projects are likely to be either forgotten or never be implemented, so please vote on all the ones that you’d like, after the one you consider most important. Apologies for the kilometric post.

Best regards,

Alexander

12) as Eric Bubar suggested and I've pondered for a while and started work on:

"I think a print in place finger to allow replacing partial or full fingers coupled with a palm/gauntlet design/methodology/workflow that would be adaptable to the bevy of cases where people have partial thumbs/fingers would be excellent. eNABLE hands as currently designed are poorly suited to many cases where they just become way too bulky for practical use when fitting to adults with most of their palm or partial fingers still in tact. Adding new techniques and hardware that make designs more complex will limit the groups that will undertake a design but if functionality can be proven its a worthwhile tradeoff."

Overall, to slightly modify the available designs to have the fingers modular. In fairness, this will be made redundant as soon as the Collaborative Design Team reaches a first product., as that will be an overhaul of the phoenix+kinetic+osprey hands, with finger modularity in mind.

A most worthy and comprehensive list.....the risk is a dilution of effort by having too many objectives. If the community finds it acceptable for Alexander to have his work supported, I recommend the community also votes on a maximum of 3 projects. As each one is finished, another can be voted upon and added.

thanks for the advice Bob! I was thinking of having just one project for now, so I can build a reputation before being trusted with more projects. Moreover, once a project is selected, I want to divide the work and the compensation to only come after a number of deliverables, not before. Skellington is my personal choice, as some objectives are already underway to be completed, and most of them are solved, at least in theory.

I suggest you rework this post (adding pictures; it's hard to know what many of these options entail) and combine it with one of loomio's polls (ranked choice or dot). To make it easier for participants to provide informed guidance without having to do too much work.

I agree with Jon Schull's post about adding photos so we can clearly see what each design entails. One design I that I believe is needed is an exoskeleton device that can articulate a full anatomy, paralyzed hand to open and close via some type of wrist or elbow action.

I'm going to guess that you mean to post pictures of what the issues are. Because suggesting to post pictures of how the results should look is... well pointless. If I had pictures, I also would have had the designs and they would already be public. Anyway, I did my best to draw the ideas and rough concepts of what the first 5 are. My drawing skills are rather lacking, so please ask where they are not clear.

This is the minimal style hand, which uses fairings. Main advantages are that it's breathable, easy to adapt to extra fingers and much better grip to the palm.