A student at St. Michael鈥檚 College wants to give people a hand 鈥� literally. Kelsey Buchanan, a junior studying art and education, started making prosthetic hands this summer using 3-D printers at the St. Michael鈥檚 maker space.
The maker space is just what it sounds like: a space for making things. In addition to the 3-D printer, there鈥檚 a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, sewing machines and a host of other arts and crafts supplies.
Before this summer, Kelsey had never actually used the maker space, let alone turned on a 3-D printer.
鈥淚t was a little daunting, as you can imagine,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever, I just jumped on and poured my heart and soul into it and I was able to figure how everything worked.鈥�
In the middle of the maker space, two small, colored plastic hands sat on a table. Over the course of the summer, Kelsey had successfully constructed two prototype prosthetic hands.
The hands can鈥檛 do everything you鈥檇 expect a hand to do, Kelsey said, but they can be very helpful for children who might have only a partial hand, or no hand at all.
鈥淭hey obviously don鈥檛 have the best mobility, because it is plastic and simple, but they have so many more opportunities that they otherwise would not have,鈥� she said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5dHSoX2M14&feature=youtu.be
So how did this art and education major get into the business of crafting prosthetic hands? It started when one of her professors mentioned seeing videos of kids getting hands that were made using 3-D printers.
The professor suggested that someone try making a hand at St Michael鈥檚 maker space. Kelsey decided she鈥檇 give it a shot.
鈥淢y ultimate goal is to be an elementary school art teacher, so kids are what I鈥檓 passionate about. And I鈥檝e always been passionate about helping people in different ways,鈥� Kelsey said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always felt I could do more.鈥�
This project is part of a larger global community of makers called .
鈥渆-NABLE is this weird amorphous grassroots community,鈥� said Ivan Own, a fabricator, designer and volunteer for the e-NABLE community.
Own is also the co-creator of the first open-source, 3-D printed hand, though he鈥檚 quick to point out he didn鈥檛 found the e-NABLE community. Still, his work helped set the stage for bringing together this loose-knit but dedicated community.
According to e-Nable鈥檚 web site, there are over 8,000 members all around the world.
Like Kelsey, Ivan didn鈥檛 have his sights set on 3-D printing prosthetic hands. For him, it started with a large puppet hand he made for a steam-punk convention. A carpenter named Richard in South Africa, who was missing a finger, saw a video of Ivan鈥檚 puppet hand.
Richard asked if they could work together to make a prosthetic finger, and two began to collaborate online and tracked their progress through videos.
Their videos were found by the mother of a 5-year-old boy named Liam.
鈥淟iam was born without any fingers on his right hand,鈥� Ivan said. 鈥淪o she kind of made the next leap and said, 'If you guys have made a finger, could you build an entire set?'"
After experimenting, Ivan and Richard realized that 3-D printing would be a fairly cheap way to create a hand for the boy because as he grew, they could easily resize and print out new versions of the hand.
After finishing the project, they posted the designs online and in the public domain.
鈥淭hat way, anyone could do whatever they wanted to with it,鈥� Ivan said. 鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a master plan or anything, it was just, 'Here鈥檚 this thing, let鈥檚 see what happens.'"
What happened was people started to tinker with and tweak the design, sharing new models and working together to improve on what Ivan had already done.
Groups formed in maker spaces to make hands and work to match them with people in need.
For Kelsey at St. Michael鈥檚, the next step is to finish up her prototypes and send them off for a quality check. She says once her hands are checked by a 鈥渕aster maker,鈥� she鈥檒l look to not just lend a hand, but give one to a person that can really use it.
"We'd be able to mix and match colors ... Just little silly things. Like if the kid wanted a Batman hand, we could make yellow fingers and a black wrist.鈥� - Kelsey Buchanan
鈥淢y ultimate goal is to have a child open up a hand on Christmas morning,鈥� Kelsey said.
She also hopes to involve more students at St. Michael鈥檚 in her project, and she鈥檚 trying to organize a chapter of e-NABLING the Future on campus. She's also to buy more materials and send the hands to recipients.
Kelsey is still tinkering with the prosthetic hand designs. She says she鈥檚 trying to find ways of adding different attachments such as a grip to make hold a painter brush easier, or just to make the hands look cooler.
鈥淲e鈥檇 be able to mix and match colors and things like that," Kelsey said. 鈥淛ust little silly things. Like if the kid wanted a Batman hand, we could make yellow fingers and a black wrist.鈥�
