Choi, Charles Q. “An Open-Source Bionic Leg.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, 5 Oct. 2020, 15:00 GMT, spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/bionics/opensource-bionicleg.
Article title:
An Open-Source Bionic Leg
Photo: Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering
My summary of the article:
Biomedical researchers from the neurobionics lab at University of Michigan, Ann Harbor, has come up with a way to solve the problem with expensive and unreliable bionic lower body parts (legs, knees, and ankles). The solution they proposed was the Open Source Leg, an easily accessible bionic leg with revolutionary low price and high user friendliness. The Open Source Leg is embedded with a developed code for users to program the prosthetic themselves. In order to increase accessibility, the Open Source Leg has significantly reduced numbers of parts and suppliers, and in order to increase cost-effectiveness, the Open Source Leg operates by using brushless DC motors developed for drones. Researchers mention that these are great for use in prosthetics because they are developed in a way to increase torque at the expense of velocity, allowing more precise control to mimic human-like features. Volunteers who had experienced the Open Source Leg are mostly positive, mentioning that they felt "supportive, responsive, and smooth." They also mentioned that they had a greater feeling of control over the prosthetic than conventional ones.
My response to the article:
If one day a severe accident occurs to me and I lose one of my legs or arms, I will not be hesitant to equip a prosthetic. I have never thought of them to be a disgrace or a humiliation, but rather a "cool" thing to have. It would make me feel like the culmination of biotechnology itself, which is indeed very "cool". With initiatives like the Open Source Leg happening more and more often, I prospect that the prosthetic industry would gradually expand so that one day prosthetics become so common that they no longer become humiliations, but rather accessories. It is indeed bone chilling and thrilling at the same time to imagine a part of my body being a moving piece of cold metal.
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