Dyson Award For Bionic Hand

Open Bionics robotic hand for amputees wins Dyson Award.

09:59 28 August 2015

 Joel Gibbard, the creator of Open Bionics project is this year’s UK winner of the James Dyson Award. He said that the prototype 3D-printed robotic hand can be custom-fitted and created in less than two days. Existing products typically takes weeks or even months to make.

The Bristol-raised creator said: "We have a device at the lower-end of the pricing scale and the upper end of functionality.”

 

"At the same time it is very lightweight and it can be customised for each person.

"The hand is basically a skeleton with a 'skin' on top. So, we can do different things to the skin - we can put patterns on it, we can change the styling and design. There's quite a lot of flexibility there."

 

The 25-year-old creator, who said that he plans to start selling the prosthetics next year, intends to place a £2,000 tag price for the device including the cost of fitting. Although cheaper when compared to other alternatives, the cost can be prohibitive for children who typically need to change their prosthetic frequently to take account of their growth.

 

Meanwhile, Mr Gibbard has acknowledged the limitations of its design.

"We're using lower-cost motors than they have in high-end devices, so the overall strength is lower," he said.

 

"So, we are testing it with users and household objects and trying to come to a compromise that means it is very affordable and still has enough power to do most of the stuff that people want."