e-Nable - YuLia Custom hand

cults3d

As part of the e-Nable project, I designed a custom hand for a girl who wouldn't benefit from standard devices. My task was to create something tailored to her specific needs. Using Fusion360, I started from scratch and developed four prototypes, with the fourth one currently being tested by Yu-Lia, the young girl who inspired this design. The "pinch" motion is key to good hand function, so that's exactly what my design focuses on. Fortunately, Yu-Lia still had a functioning finger, albeit deformed, which I incorporated into the design as her index finger. I used a 3D scan of her hand to create a model around it. The mechanics are similar to those in the raptor hand, but with one crucial difference: they rely heavily on Yu-Lia's remaining finger, which essentially pulls the 3D printed thumb. This custom hand comes with three alternative tensioner links that provide different levels of leverage for the tensioning wire. I also used short pieces of 3mm filament to connect the tensioner links and finger tips – after all, why design a separate pin when you have plenty of filament on hand? You'll notice that the fingers are purely decorative; this custom hand is fully functional without them.