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Abstract
There is an estimated 1.7 million people living with limb loss in the United States today. Approximately 70% have an upper limb amputation, with roughly 10% of them losing their hand below elbow or at the wrist. This project aims to remedy this problem by designing a prototype bionic hand. This prototype will be made as a proof-of-concept that will be made into a fully function prosthetic device through multiple project iterations in the future. There have been a number of solutions to this problem; however, most of them are expensive to manufacture. This report will discuss three concept designs that challenge the existing solutions in different ways. Choosing to use a synthetic tendon system of actuation for the fingers will allow this project to be capable of performing low-stress everyday tasks like holding different sized objects. The bionic hand was controlled using pushbuttons that activate the servos when pushed and released the servos when the pushbuttons are released. This project also used 3-D printing technology for ease of manufacturing and build cost savings. There were many challenges that arose during the building phase of this project, like designing a base board for mounting the electronics and the hand, as well as programming the servos to function properly. The hand succeeded in holding the different sized objects. However it failed to hold and lift a water bottle in a satisfactory manner thus failing to meet one of the requirements.