Design a Star Wars Themed e-NABLE Prosthetic Arm and Win an Ultimaker 2+

Over the years e-NABLE has created thousands of 3D printed prosthetic arms for children and adults all over the world. While many of the lucky recipients of e-NABLE devices have some say over the design of their hand, most of the limbs created are the standard designs that have been 3D printed in whatever color filament the volunteers have handy. There have also been a ton of new e-NABLE devices introduced so there are options for just about everyone, but some users are lucky enough to also receive custom made devices. Superhero designs are quite popular, and there have been Iron Man-themed devices, Marvel devices, Batman prosthetics and even pink snowflakes. One of the cooler custom designs was a recent prosthetic arm that was designed to look like the arm of Star Wars droid C3PO.

Star Wars-themed Open Bionics prosthetic arm.

Star Wars is one of those rare pop culture phenomena that exists beyond generations and is able to bring people of all ages together, even before the record-breaking release of The Force Awakens last year. Everyone knows who Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo are regardless of their age, and it is likely that they will for generations to come. So it really isn’t much of a shock that Star Wars has been a huge source of inspiration for the designers of several amazing e-NABLE prosthetic hands, or that Star Wars themed prosthetics are in such high demand from amputees. Nor is it shocking that the first line of children-sized bionic arms from Open Bionics include a Star Wars arm.

The team from e-NABLE just started a new series of monthly challenges in January called CREATE T.I.M.E. (Think. Imagine. Make. e-NABLE.) that is designed to encourage the e-NABLE community to expand the number of prosthetic devices available and improve and update older designs. So when Dutch 3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker launched a new Star Wars design contest with 3D Hubs and Colorfabb, e-NABLE decided to jump in and encourage their community of designers to use it as an opportunity to help bring attention to their 3D printable prosthetic devices. And maybe win themselves a brand new 3D printer in the process.

Just head over to the e-NABLE Build a Hand page and select one of the available prosthetic designs and create an amazing device to donate to a special Star Wars fan. There are more than a dozen different prosthetic hands available that you can modify, or you can create something brand new. There are also several assistive tools available than can either be modified or act as inspiration for a brand new design.

If you want to enter the Ultimaker design contest you just need to create any Star Wars-themed object, in this case an e-NABLE prosthetic. 3D print and assemble your design and go visit the Star Wars Competition Talk page on 3D Hubs. Just upload the model’s STL file, include a picture of the final print and leave a comment. This comment acts as your submission, and the voting results will be based on the entry with the most upvotes, so make your model and your comment really stand out from the crowd. You’ll also need to upload the model to YouMagine and make sure that you include a link to your 3D Hubs comment.

First prize will be awarded a brand new Ultimaker 2+, which was just introduced at CES 2016. Second prize will receive six spools of Colorfabb nGen filament or a 3D Hubs voucher for $109 (€100). Third prize will receive two spools of Colorfabb nGen filament or 3D Hubs voucher $55 (€50). The competition will end on March 21st, and the 3D Hubs comment that has the most upvotes will be named the winner. You can find out more about the competition over on Ultimaker’s Blog. Are you planning on participating? Discuss in the Ultimaker 3D Design Challenge forum over at 3DPB.com.