Raptor Reloaded Accordion

thingiverse

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGnyIYTmEnU This is the culmination of a semester team project by undergraduate Biomedical Engineers from the University of Wisconsin fall semester 2018. They were tasked with adding lateral wrist movement to an existing e-NABLE hand device, specifically the Raptor Reloaded. The chosen device was the Raptor Reloaded, and they hoped to benefit from the Fusion 360 source files for the Raptor, but that part didn't work out. Having generated a handful of plausible designs, they chose "The Accordion". This design uses all the parts of a Raptor Reloaded device, adding a flexible "accordion" across the wrist. This device would be worn by a person with no fingers or thumb but a palm - just like all candidates for e-NABLE hand devices. The accordion part is printed in a flexible filament, such as TPU or TPE or FilaFlex. Print four of the pins, replacing the wrist pin from the Raptor Reloaded. Otherwise, all parts are standard Raptor Reloaded. To assemble, find where the user's wrist joint sits. Position the accordion part matching that position. Puncture holes where the wrist pins match up to the palm part and secure with the new pins. Make sure there is some overlap of the accordion piece and the palm - this will keep the part from "popping out" as the user flexes. Use a similar method for attachment to the gauntlet, including the overlapping. This Thing is presented as a proof of concept, and hopefully, it will inspire new ideas and ways to give users greater flexibility when wearing the Accordion. If you watch the video closely, it isn't definitive that it still correctly flexes the fingers. Having now built one, I can confirm that they do, but some grip strength is lost in the process. For those of you capable, you might want to try a thicker accordion piece. I feel like the one in this design is a bit "flimsy", at least for the hand I printed at 160% to fit my hand! I've included a demo bar to help you if you actually build one. Also, I know many of you have not tried the flexible filaments. I encourage you to give them a try. Most all printers are capable of printing flexibles, bowdens included. A big shout out to the Design Team: Haley Yagodinsky, Courtney Florin, Kelly Starykowicz, Claire Mitchell, Jack Metzger, Liam Granlund