Engineering news
The James Dyson Foundation has awarded £30,000 to a group of US students from the University of Pennsylvania in recognition of the potential in its prototype upper body exoskeleton Titan Arm.
The Titan Arm augments arm strength by 18 kilos, it has a mostly aluminium frame, is battery powered, uses a DC motor and cable drive system and a thumbstick controller for movement.
This device could either be used to increase an individual’s strength when lifting heavy items, but could also be used by people who have suffered back injuries to rebuild and retrain their muscles.
The money the team has won will help fund further develop of the arm towards commercialisation. The next steps in the project include efforts to incorporate myoelectric sensors into the arm to record electrical activity in the muscles. This will allow the arm's augmentation to be tailored to the individual’s movement and amplify muscle activity to allow the user to command the suit without the thumbstick.
James Dyson said, “Titan Arm is obviously an ingenious design, but the team’s use of modern, rapid – and relatively inexpensive – manufacturing techniques makes the project even more compelling.”
The first Titan Arm prototype cost £1,200 to produce, a significant cost reduction compared to similar exoskeletons that currently cost up to £63,000. The Titan Arm team hopes to make it commercially available for a tenth of the price of existing models.
Nick Parrotta of Titan Arm said, “We wanted Titan Arm to be affordable, as exoskeletons are rarely covered by health insurance. This informed our design decisions and the materials we used. Most structural components are machined from inexpensive aluminum.”
James Dyson also selected two runner-up designs, which will each will receive £10,000 to further development. A Japanese prosthetic hand called Handie which has myoelectric sensors to read brain signals and uses a smartphone to process the electrical impulses detected on the skin’s surface. All of the components of the hand can be modified and reproduced using a 3D printer.
Cortex is a 3D printed plastic cast system developed in New Zealand that uses recyclable materials and is waterproof and ventilated to prevent irritation.
The James Dyson award is a competition for young engineers and designers run in 18 countries which aims to encourage inventive problem solving skills. It is run by the charity the James Dyson Foundation. Last year’s winner
Dan Watson, who designed a fish net with an illuminated escape route that prevents the capture of young, unmarketable fish.