Alex Czech’s 3D Printable Exoskeleton Hands are Now Extended to Full Arms

IMTS

Share this Article

exo

Over one month ago, we covered this story about an Australian man, Alex Czech, who 3D printed an exoskeleton hand while he was originally working on the idea of developing a universal joint. Well, the idea of the joint led to the finger, which led to the hand creation. While Czech reports that he did not know there were others working on the same type of 3D printable design, he is not alone in his interest in making the hand exoskeleton.exo1

Czech talked about possibly adding DC motors on the fingers’ joints to “make a miniature power drill on the fingertips,” but he acknowledged that this improvement would take place somewhere “down the line.” He then continued to work on extending the hand project.

And now, less than one month later, he has released files for his expanded project, which has reached the level of, you guess it, a 3D printed exoskeleton arm! And Czech says he is now one step closer to the exoskeleton suit worn by Matt Damon’s character in the science fiction film Elysium.  I’ve gotta admit it looks fairly accurate, and certainly must have taken a lot of hard work and skill for Czech exo6to get this far.

The arms are truly a labor of love, as Czech began this journey tinkering with his 3D printing hobby in his after hours (he works in investor relations). One hand alone of this entire arm model has 13 unique parts.

And true to the original exoskeleton hands, the arm parts are also entirely 3D printed except for the screws and metal washers they require. Like the hands that came before them, these arms were also 3D printed on Czech’s Up Plus 2, which has a 14 x 15 x 15 cm build area. He makes the 3D design downloadable for $19.67, and states that this new exoskeleton design is the result of hours of test printing.

exo3

The arms were designed to be printed using ABS plastic, and Czech reports that his exoskeleton is “surprisingly comfortable to wear and should sit firmly on your arms.” The question you may have, at this point, is what the function of the exoskeleton arms is, and, since DC motors have not been added to the hands yet, we can answer that these arms are intended to evoke a science fiction effect.

Later on down the line, the hand portion of the full arm could work as a multipurpose glove. In the meantime, feel fee to join Alex Czech’s futuristic looking world by downloading and 3D printing your own exoskeleton arms! Let us know you decide to take on this crazy project and how they turn out for you in the 3D Printed Exoskeleton Arms forum thread at 3DPB.com.

exo8

 

Share this Article


Recent News

Will There Be a Desktop Manufacturing Revolution outside of 3D Printing?

Know Your Würth: CEO AJ Strandquist on How Würth Additive Can Change 3D Printing



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

Featured

Pressing Refresh: What CEO Brad Kreger and Velo3D Have Learned About Running a 3D Printing Company

To whatever extent a business is successful thanks to specialization, businesses will nonetheless always be holistic entities. A company isn’t a bunch of compartments that all happen to share the...

Würth Additive Launches Digital Inventory Services Platform Driven by 3D Printing

Last week, at the Additive Manufacturing Users’ Group (AMUG) Conference in Chicago (March 10-14), Würth Additive Group (WAG) launched its new inventory management platform, Digital Inventory Services (DIS). WAG is...

Featured

Hypersonic Heats Up: CEO Joe Laurienti on the Success of Ursa Major’s 3D Printed Engine

“It’s only been about 24 hours now, so I’m still digesting it,” Joe Laurienti said. But even via Zoom, it was easy to notice that the CEO was satisfied. The...

Featured

3D Printing’s Next Generation of Leadership: A Conversation with Additive Minds’ Dr. Gregory Hayes

It’s easy to forget sometimes that social media isn’t reality. So, at the end of 2023, when a burst of doom and gloom started to spread across the Western world’s...