Hello!

This is my submission for the Atomstack design competition. My design is a mechanical hand. I decided to make this because I am 16 and in high school, and I hope to go into the field of prosthetics as my career later on in life. I wanted to use this competition as an opportunity to work on and create a project that fits within that field. My hope with this hand was that it would be a affordable prosthetic, so that someone who cannot afford a high-end model would be able to use this to at least get by. (It does not have a connection to the arm or anything like that because that has to be custom to each person.) In making this project I was able to use a laser cutter, 3D printer, and computer from my school during a couple of my class periods.

Materials:

1. The laser cut pieces from provided files
2. The 3D printed pieces from provided files
3. A spool of thread/string
4. Super Glue
5. Hot Glue
6. Baking Soda (optional)

Construction:

To make the project, cut (cuts are RGB red, and engraving is black) the .svg file from wood with a thickness of ideally ~0.14 inches, using a different width of wood can be done, however you will have to change the width of the connection points, and adjust the width of the spacers to be half of the thickness of the wood. Also print the included .stl file to make a total of 104 spacers, and 37 dowels. I recommend using resin printing, however filament should work. You will have to customize the amount of spacers and dowels, as there are many different build plate sizes, and I don't know what would fit for yours! =) Once you have the materials, simply follow the instructions on the Design_Comp_Instructions.pdf file.

The usage of the baking soda is optional, but it can be rather handy. It can be used when gluing the outside of the joints, where extra volume is not a problem, to dry the glue much faster. This is because super glue and baking soda, when combined, have an exothermic reaction and will dry the glue instantly, making parts of the building process much easier and quicker. Just apply a drop of glue as normal, then sprinkle the baking soda over it, wait a second or two, then brush off the excess soda.

Design Process/Documentation:

I included the required design documentation on the Design_Comp_Documentation.pdf file

If you make this, I hope you have fun doing so! (And be careful of getting super glue on your fingers, it takes forever to come off!)