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StumpworX Profile in Time Magazine Blog; Please Help Us Win Prototyping Money with Facebook Vote

Check out the bit on the new shoe-inspired prosthetic arm design that we're trying to create through StumpworX: Breaking the Mold in Prosthetic Arms By Nate Rawlings. I could use as many Facebook votes (Vote for StumpworX here) as I can to get a chance at winning the $10,000 ro $50,000 in prize money from the…

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Added by Jon Kuniholm on March 26, 2013 at 2:30pm — No Comments

StumpworX Launch and Startup Competition (please vote)

I've started a for-profit business to serve as the Red Hat to Open Prosthetics' Linux, offering service and support for manufactured prosthetic arm suspension and components. Check out my pitch video and please vote for us to win a $5000 startup competition prize here: http://www.facebook.com/DukeStartupChallenge



We're focusing first on suspension, because it represents the vast majority of reasons that people don't wear arms… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on November 22, 2012 at 1:40pm — 1 Comment

Son makes electromechanical gripper for father

The Times of Malta reports that Martin Calleja's 17-year-old son Luke made him a device that resembles a greifer, after watching him become frustrated about trying to use his above elbow body powered device.

 

Here's a great video that Martin made that details his life,…

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Added by Jon Kuniholm on December 26, 2010 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Video from this year's Dove Hunt

Check out some of the familiar faces in this video highlighting the universality of one arm challenges, filmed at this year's OADH.…







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Added by Jon Kuniholm on October 25, 2010 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Prosthetic History: Becker Hand and Bill McElroy

The Becker Hand is one of the longest-running hand-shape prosthetic products around, and has been well described by Wolf Schweitzer in this post. I have been trying one out, thanks to John Becker, who is still in the family business, and plan to do a more detailed evaluation of this… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on August 20, 2010 at 3:30pm — 6 Comments

Prosthetic Hook History; Ray Trautman

As you may know, we have a special interest in the hooks developed by Ray Trautman, which were loved by many and have been unavailable for some time. While we've often focused on the 1912 Patent by David Dorrance, you'll notice that one of the distinguishing…

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Added by Jon Kuniholm on August 20, 2010 at 12:30pm — 4 Comments

Prosthetic History: The Body-Powered Arm and William Selpho

I've talked a lot about my (still, unfortunately) favorite prosthetic terminal device, the split hook invented by David Dorrance in 1912. There are two basic benefits that this device offers: (1) body-power, or the ability to open and close the fingers to pick up items, almost like a pair of tweezers, and (2) the useful geometry of the design that… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on August 7, 2010 at 4:30pm — 4 Comments

At the National Council on Disability Summit – Summing Up, and Top Three Take-Aways

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the NCD Summit in Washington, DC this year. I have never seen a more diverse collection of people united in their desire to overcome their collective challenges, and celebrate the progress that has been made in government's commitment to helping them do it in the 20 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Tom Perez, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights quoted the late Senator Ted Kennedy yesterday in saying that the ADA… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on July 28, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

The Six Million Dollar Meme

Regarding Paul Hochman's recent Fast Company article on prosthetics, as both a consumer of prosthetic arms and an engineer working on the most ambitious prosthetic arm project in history, I have some significant problems with his portrayal of the clinical state of the art. The basic premise raised in the article, that we're anywhere close to "Super Human Prostheses You'll Envy" is laughable to… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on January 21, 2010 at 2:00pm — 9 Comments

Pitch an OPP Project for a Television Pilot

When we incorporated, we imagined that our ideas for open design mattered to many more markets than just amputees, which is why we're the Shared Design Alliance. As one way of tackling problems like ours, I've proposed an open source TV design show for a new Changemakers competition.



Called The 90 Per Cent Solution, the show would use the power of the crowd to… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on January 16, 2010 at 12:30am — No Comments

Great Post on the Problem of Open Hardware Licenses

Christian Siefkes has written a great post on some of the issues surrounding open hardware and the differences between hardware and software. As one of the comments below notes, the possibility of well-documenting prior art is absent from the analysis, and is another avenue for preventing patenting of design ideas.



I think… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on December 9, 2009 at 1:20pm — No Comments

The Importance of Hooks

While I've complained about the fact that many of us are using hooks strongly resembling that designed by and still bearing the name of David Dorrance, who patented the split hook in 1912 and whose company survives today, there are many benefits to the design. There's a reason that some designs are… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on November 11, 2009 at 2:00pm — 1 Comment

Increase the life of your bands

A tip from Brad Veatch of ADA, the developer of the LESA prehensor (not yet available).

A little teflon pipe thread tape underneath the rubber bands on the hook when you replace them will reportedly increase the life by eight times. Brad apparently has data to support this with cycle testing, and I hope we see that in print soon. My experience has… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on October 18, 2009 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment

Help Review Grant Applications for the DoD

Congress has made available $112 M in FY09 for medical research to advance treatment and rapid rehabilitation from orthopaedic injuries sustained by military service members during combat or combat-related activities. The Department of Defense(DoD)Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs(CDMRP) Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program (PRORP) task in FY09 is to find and fund innovative research that has the potential to make a significant impact on improving function, wellness, and… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on October 1, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Standardized Control Interface for Prosthetics (SCIP), a CAN-based Limb Control Protocol

I've spoken before about the need for a standard for prosthetic/robotic arm (or leg) control, preferably one also adopted by a larger industry. University of New Brunswick Fredericton (UNB)'s AIF UNB Hand Project has settled on a CAN-based communications system, using the established standard for automotive communication. Under the name of a consortium that has long sought to standardize upper extremity prosthetic control,… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on September 25, 2009 at 2:21pm — No Comments

Oscar Pistorius Study Released

You may remember the controversy before the Beijing Olympics last year surrounding South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had initially ruled that the sprinter, with bilateral congenital below-knee limb absence, could not compete at the games. An independent study… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on July 5, 2009 at 11:00pm — 1 Comment

Operation Denali

Some of you may know that I was involved in an effort to climb Mt. Denali (McKinley) with a group of disabled veterans. Details about the trip can be found here:

http://www.theveteranscoalition.org/operation_denali/



I was forced through the wise decision-making of our guide, Kirby Senden, to abandon the climb on the 14th of June, having reached just over 16k feet and… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on June 16, 2009 at 10:54pm — No Comments

Open Prosthetics in IEEE Spectrum

My article on the tough realities of designing next generation prosthetic arms and the philosophy behind the Open Prosthetics Project is up on IEEE Spectrum online, and will appear in the March issue of the magazine. There are a couple of edits I wasn't thrilled with, but in general I'm pleased.



To quote the sidebar about how everyone can help with OPP:



"While it’s most natural to want to help within your area of… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on March 1, 2009 at 2:33pm — 7 Comments

Scientific American Article, General Update

I'm going to repeat myself (mostly) from the post I added to the main site; you never know who is looking at what.



For those of you who haven't seen it, our efforts to improve on the well-loved features of the out-of-production Trautman Hook have been profiled in Scientific American Magazine this month. In order to avoid any possibility of confusion with the old Trautman brand, we're going to refer to our new and… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on September 22, 2008 at 8:09pm — No Comments

Lead User Innovators and Democratizing Innovation

"Lead users," are consumers (individuals or companies) who spur innovation in an industry by contributing innovations often of a greater value and at a faster pace than the companies that produce the products they use. Their innovations are often freely shared and eventually incorporated into products. Far from being an idealist fantasy, lead user innovations can be incorporated into the R&D strategy of a nimble company, enabling quick identification and anticipation of consumer needs. What… Continue

Added by Jon Kuniholm on January 10, 2008 at 6:04pm — No Comments

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