The Development of a Pupil Controlled Prosthetic Device for Human Augmentation

We are using LabVIEW to design and build a retina controlled prosthetic limb that can be used to help augment individuals with disability. Due to the recent wars, there has been an increase in injured veterans returning with the need of a prosthetic limb. Traditionally, prosthetic limbs have been passive devices; our design would make it an active device. The overall objective of this research project is to understand the capabilities of LabVIEW and to construct an original artificial limb. We have successfully assembled the hand, created the tracking and controlling software in LabView, and have mounted our servo motors in a wrist module. We have also created simple controls for the hand to undergo based on position of the eye. Current goals are to mount the tracking camera in an unobtrusive manner, to integrate pressure feedback into the software, and to design the method of attaching our prosthetic hand to someone’s arm. Other applications of this pupil-controlled machines can be implemented into wheel chair operations with individuals with more severe disabilities. There have been other attempts to make prosthetic limbs active devices however, our attempt is unique as we are controlling the prosthetic limb based on pupil position and movement. We aim to study the application of vision controlled prosthetic devices and their viability for real world application