3D-Printed Prosthetic Spring Feedback for Ball Throwing Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional 3D printed prosthetics lack the fine motor control and haptic feedback necessary for complex tasks, particularly in sports, due to their limited ability to provide positional and force feedback, which is critical for high dexterity activities like basketball handling.
Innovation Solution
A prosthetic device featuring a coil spring with varying conductivity based on strain, made through multi-material 3D printing, that provides energy return and haptic feedback, allowing users to sense the force applied during tasks like throwing a basketball, thereby enhancing control and reducing energy expenditure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional 3D printed prosthetics are used, then manufacturing accessibility and customizability are improved, but fine motor control and haptic feedback capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs multi-material 3D printing to create prosthetic hands with different material properties in different regions. Conductive materials are integrated into the prosthetic structure to enable haptic feedback, while maintaining the ease of manufacture benefits of 3D printing. This composite approach allows the prosthetic to provide both manufacturing accessibility and fine motor control with haptic feedback.
2Measurement precision
If positional and force feedback are added to prosthetics, then control precision is improved, but device complexity and cost deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the structural components of the prosthetic with the sensing functionality by integrating conductive materials directly into the 3D printed structure. This combination eliminates the need for separate sensor assemblies and complex wiring, providing force feedback capability while reducing overall device complexity compared to traditional approaches.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The prosthetic device improves fine-tuned control and reduces energy consumption during athletic tasks by providing haptic feedback proportional to the force applied, simulating the biomechanics of a natural hand, thus enabling users to perform tasks with greater precision and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The prosthetic includes a coil spring that provides energy return
Implementation Method 2
the springs are made by multi-material 3D printing (additive manufacturing). Such springs made by multi-material 3D printing may include a first material that is electrically non-conductive (insulative) and a second material that electrically conductive. The extent of the deformation or strain of the spring may be determined or estimated by measuring the conductivity or resistivity of the electrically conductive material portion of the spring
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
An upper-extremity prosthetic is adapted to engage with an athletic ball. The prosthetic includes one or more springs that provide energy return as a user is throwing the ball using the prosthetic. The springs can have a conductivity that changes in relation to an amount of strain or deformation of the spring. The change in conductivity can be used to provide haptic feedback to the user so the user can sense the amount of force being applied to throw the ball. In some embodiments, the springs are made by a multi-material 3D printing (additive manufacturing) process and include a first material that is electrically non-conductive and a second material that electrically conductive. In some embodiments, the prosthetic also includes one or more cantilevered springs that are also adapted to engage with the ball and to provide energy return while throwing the ball.