Hand Prosthesis

This project deals with engineering students’ prosthetic hand design, submitted to the University of Southern Maine’s engineering department. The primary goal of the prosthetic hand design is to allow an impaired individual to grasp and hold everyday objects ranging from a toothbrush to a jug of milk. The project consists of three teams each designing their respective portion of the prosthetic device. The teams will deal with three specific design areas; computer aided design of the mechanism, electronic integration, and manufacturing implementation. The design team turns notebook doodles into virtual models in SolidWorks. The electronics team will control a battery powered micro linear actuator with an Arduino Uno micro-controller. The manufacturing team will bring the SolidWorks model to life with a CNC machine and assemble the aluminum and electronics into a fully functional proof-of-concept model. The functional requirements will be the driving force behind the design specification for the prosthetic hand and will be annotated in the “house of quality” excel spreadsheet. A Gantt chart will set timeline goals and critical paths that the teams will adhere to. The final outcome of this project will not only be a physical device but also consist of a process in manufacturing from design to build