The 3D Printable Desktop Fist Bumping Robot is Here

Like technology, human interaction is also constantly evolving.  First it was the handshake, in which two individuals connect with one another in a way that says, “Hey I don’t have a knife in this hand, so don’t worry I won’t repeatedly stab you to death.”

After this, the high five was created, which many historians trace back to a baseball game in 1977, in which Dusty Baker of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit his 30th home run of the season.  When he crossed home plate, teammate Glenn Burk was standing there with his hand thrust over his head.  Not sure how to react, Baker smacked it.  Kabam!! The ‘high five’ had spontaneously burst into popular culture.

What happens when you combine the celebratory high five, with the introductory gesture of the hand shake?  The Fist Bump comes into existence.  The fist bump has become so popular within our culture, that even Barack and Michelle Obama commonly use it with one another.  Heck, the fist bump has almost replaced the high five, and is taking a large percentage of the ‘greeting gesture’ market share from the hand shake as well. I think it’s safe to say that the fist bump is here to stay.

What happens though, when you are sitting at your desk, just wrote the best article of your life (on fist bumping), and find that you don’t have anyone around you to release the urge to ‘pound one out’?  Perhaps under normal circumstances you would hold in the urge, hoping for it to subside, before you lose control and fist bump a hole in the wall.  In this day and age of 3D printing and the DIY movement, we have another option…. The Desktop Fist Bumper.

That’s right, through the wonders of laser cutting and 3D printing, no man, woman, or child will have ever have to withhold the urge to fist bump again.  The Desktop Fist Bumper was added recently to Instructables by member, Beaconsfield.  It’s not an easy project, but one which can be done in a day, if you have the proper equipment and supplies.  The following is needed:

• Standard servo
• Arduino Uno
• Ultrasonic range sensor
• Misc wires and connectors
• 9V battery connector
• 9V battery – RadioShack
• Slide switch – RadioShack
• Afinia 3D printer – RadioShack
• Wood glue (optional)
• Rough sandpaper
• Weights
• String/wire cable
• 3D print filament (ABS or PLA)
• Nuts and bolts
• ¼” plywood (14″ x 25″)

The most important part of the fist bumping machine, the actual fist, was 3D printed on an Afinia H479 printer from PLA, on 0.25mm accuracy and hollow fill. The fist used approximately 160 grams of filament and took about seven hours of print time, and as you can see by the images, it turned out quite well.  Beaconsfield also stated that if a 3D printer is not available, the fist could be made from paper mache, cardboard, or other materials.  If you decide to do that, however, then it is recommended that you take a little bit of power off of your bumps, to be sure not to crush the fist.

The full instructions on how to create your own robotic fist pounding friend can be found here. If you do decide to make one, please at least take a picture of it and post it in the 3D printed fist bumper forum thread on 3DPB.com, for us all to see. Check out the video below showing off the awesome fist bumping action of this incredible machine.