High-tech Prosthetics: Granting locomotion to all with open-source robotics.

09/10/24 • 28 min

How inclusive are advanced prosthetics technologies?
The global demand for prosthetics and orthotics is only expected to rise. Yet, access to affordable and innovative solutions varies greatly at local, national and international levels. And while 3D printing has greatly contributed to making prosthetics available in low-income and developing regions, the benefits that robotics and technological innovation bring users remain highly exclusive.
This may be about to change. In an attempt to make high-tech prosthetics solutions more accessible, Professor in Biomechatronics at the University of Agder in Norway, Filippo Sanfilippo, along with his colleagues (Martin Økter, Jørgen Dale, Hua Minh Tuan, Muhammad Hamza Zafar, Morten Ottestad) have published an open-source, low-cost sensorised elastic actuator design that promises to shift innovation from the market to the commons.
This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt and ComaStudio via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.

Previous Episode

Drones for Data Gathering: How open-source hardware is making environmental research more viable

What does it take to make research catch up with climate change?
The Arctic regions hold crucial information about the environmental impact of rising temperatures. Calving glaciers and treacherous territories make it a life-threatening mission to collect it though.
As autonomous technologies improve, drones, boats and rovers are increasingly being deployed in place of humans to sample, monitor and manage marine and aquatic systems. However, as costs can range in the millions, the value these technologies can provide researchers is relevant to their cost. That is why Daniel F. Carlson and Claus Melvad put it to a group of engineering students at Aarhus University in Denmark to design a low-cost, lightweight and replicable drone for accompanying them on missions to Greenland. In this episode, we take a look at the Naval Operating Research Drone Assessing Climate Change (NORDACC) and discuss how open-source principles coupled with citizen science could accelerate climate change research - and results.
This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt and ComaStudio via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.

Next Episode

Microwaves Against Malaria: Life-saving technologies and the question of patenting.

Urgent needs require urgent solutions, but is open-source always the answer?
The UN aims to eradicate malaria in all countries by 2030. However, in some parts of the world, incidents are increasing as the parasites transmitting the disease grow increasingly tolerant to treatment drugs.
A novel treatment method using microwaves to kill the parasite shows promising results. One that could save both lives and economies in Africa, where a majority of malaria incidents and deaths are registered each year. With the release of an open-source portable device for studying the malaria parasite’s growth inhibition via microwave exposure, researchers hope to accelerate the development of a deployable treatment device sooner rather than later.
In this episode of HardwareX, Biochemist and researcher Dr Carmenza Spadafora joins us from her home in Panama as she explains how quantum physics and technological innovation have paved the way for a potentially groundbreaking new method for malaria treatment. A patented method, Dr Spadafora shares her thoughts on why open-source might not always be the best choice.
This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt and ComaStudio via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.