According to the website, “Youbionic devices will enable a person to perform movements that would otherwise be impossible. They are characterized by flexible geometries that perform like muscles, that contract and release like fibers, to best execute any movement, as if they were biological limbs.”
The prosthetic hands use a sophisticated Arduino board to provide robotic movements. The Youbionic team created a system of intuitive biomimicking muscle sensors that work off the computer software, and allow the hand to respond to what is an intended movement, based on signals sent from the wearer’s brain. They saw 3D printing as the only viable option for the device, due to its durability and flexibility. What is even more impressive is that the team is able to make the hand in one single print!
According to their website, Youbionic is still looking for investors who are “interested in financing our research & development activities, in order to take the Youbionic prosthetic hand from a potentially disrupting concept to a finalized product that can change the lives of thousands of people.” It doesn’t look like they plan on stopping at just the prosthetic hand, either.
Ciccarese told 3DPrint.com, “I am designing this as an extremely versatile device, I have arranged Youbionic Hand to work by replacing a missing arm but also in support of existing arm so as to increase physical capabilities. In the next few years we will see the arrival of bionics and limbs worn in the newspaper to help us carry out chores at home, on a journey, in the workplace and certainly also in the spare time. In 2017 we will be able to show the results of the work that I have done with the University of Siena on a great project that can multiply the functions of Youbionic hand, I’m talking about an Exoskeleton. Thanks to this ecosystem of devices we will be able to transport the senses and perceive remotely.”
We are excited to see what they come up with next, and to hear how the Youbionic hand is performing out in the real world. To get a closer look at how the Youbionic hand works with the wearer’s body, watch the video of Ciccarese trying it out:
Discuss in the Youbionic forum at 3DPB.com.