A Better Mechanical Hand

A prosthetic hand that’s as functional as an electronic model—but at a fraction of the cost...

In The Workshop One of the inspirations for Mark Stark’s [below] invention was an artificial hand designed for NASA. “It was a challenge,” he says. “I thought, ‘I can do better than that.’" John B. Carnett

Prosthetic hands typically come in three varieties: purely cosmetic models; hooks and other low-cost mechanical appendages that provide a limited range of motion; and electronic versions that better mimic natural hand movements yet can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Mark Stark’s prosthetic incorporates the best elements of each. Although its minimalist plastic assembly is nearly as light and inexpensive as a common steel hook, it looks and moves like a high-end electronic hand.

Stark, who makes his living designing valves for dryers and other appliances, got into prosthetics in part to help his friend, Dave Vogt, who was born without a left hand. Stark’s creation is electronics-free, but its fingers each have three knuckles (two on the thumb) that bend separately to conform to anything the wearer grasps, including irregularly shaped objects that a hook can’t hold.

Hooks attach to a socket at the end of an amputee’s arm and are operated by a cable that runs up to a shoulder harness. When the wearer shrugs his shoulders, the cable pulls the hook open; when he relaxes, the cable slackens and the hook closes. The Stark Hand screws into the same socket-and-cable system but adds a lever on the palm that connects to five more cables, each running up the back of a finger. A shoulder movement triggers the lever to tug all five fingers open at once, and the individual cables let each finger rebound on its own. Springs in each joint contract until each finger comes to rest on an object, so some fingertips can curl around, say, a wineglass stem while others grasp the cup. The springs exert a level of pressure gentle enough to hold an egg but strong enough that you can lift a chair.

How It Works: The Stark Hand: The prosthetic hand attaches to a cable that runs from a shoulder harness worn by an amputee. A lever on the palm opens all five fingers at once, and separate cables in each finger and springs at each knuckle allow the fingers to close individually and bend around objects with a secure grip.  Blanddesigns.co.uk

In 2004, Stark constructed a proof-of-concept from hardware-store supplies and gave it to Vogt to try out. Within an hour, Vogt caught a ball left-handed for the first time in his life. Since then, he has helped Stark test and improve four more prototypes. Stark designed stronger, compact springs, re-engineered the fingers into a few easy-to-manufacture shapes, and set the thumb at a new angle to better replicate a real thumb. He also strengthened the joints in the hand against side impacts after Vogt broke a prosthetic knuckle when he hit something while swinging around on the dance floor.

Vogt now wears the hand everywhere except to his job as a machinist, where he has to do heavy lifting for which a hook still works better. A more durable production version, which will use tougher plastics and sleeker parts, could be on the way as early as this winter. Edison Nation, a company that helps inventors develop their ideas, recently selected Stark’s hand for commercial development and is now in talks to license it to a major prosthetics manufacturer.

Name: The Stark Hand

Inventor: Mark Stark

Time: 7 years

Cost: $17,000–$18,000

Source: Tech Gadgets

“Straddling” bus

A cheaper, greener and faster alternative to commute...


A big concern on top of urban transportation planner’s mind is how to speed up the traffic: putting more buses on the road will jam the roads even worse and deteriorate the air; building more subway is costly and time consuming. Well, here is an cheaper, greener and fast alternative to lighten their mind up a bit: the straddling bus, first exhibited on the 13th Beijing International High-tech Expo in May this year. In the near future, the model is to be put into pilot use in Beijing’s Mentougou District. (The official site of the high-tech expo put it as 3D fast bus, which I think is more confusing, for now I’ll just call it the straddling bus.)

Proposed by Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., Ltd, the model looks like a subway or light-rail train bestriding the road. It is 4-4.5 m high with two levels: passengers board on the upper level while other vehicles lower than 2 m can go through under. Powered by electricity and solar energy, the bus can speed up to 60 km/h carrying 1200-1400 passengers at a time without blocking other vehicles’ way. Also it costs about 500 million yuan to build the bus and a 40-km-long path for it, only 10% of building equivalent subway. It is said that the bus can reduce traffic jams by 20-30%.

At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let’s watch a demonstration.

The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart.

Another strength of straddling bus is its short construction life cycle: only 1 year to build 40 km. Whereas building 40-km subway will take 3 years at best. Also the straddling bus will not need the large parking lot that normal buses demand. It can park at its own stop without affecting the passage of cars. This is what the interior looks like: it has huge skylight that will eliminate passengers’ sense of depression when enter.

There are two parts in building the straddling bus. One is remodeling the road, the other is building station platforms. Two ways to remodel the road: we can go with laying rails on both sides of car lane, which save 30% energy; or we can paint two white lines on both sides and use auto-pilot technology in the bus, which will follow the lines and run stable.

There are also two ways in dealing with station platform. One is to load/unload through the sides; the other is using the built-in ladder so that passengers can go up and to the overpass through the ceiling door.

Straddling bus is completely powered by municipal electricity and solar energy system. In terms of electricity, the setting is called relay direct current electrification. The bus itself is electrical conductor, two rails built on top to allow the charging post to run along with the bus, the next charging post will be on the rails before the earlier one leaves, that is why we call it relay charging. It is new invention, not available yet in other places.

The set here is super capacitor, a device that can charge, discharge and store electricity quickly. The power it stores during the stop can support the bus till the next stop where another round of charging takes place, achieving zero toxic gas throughout the process.

About the ultrasonic waves put forth from the end of the bus, that is to keep those high cars or trucks away from entering the tunnel. Using laser ray to scan, cars get too close to the passage will activate the alarm on the bus end. Inside the bus, there are turning lights that indicate a the bus is intending to make a turn to warn the cars inside. Also radar scanning system is embedded on the walls to warn cars from getting too close to the bus wheels.

Nowadays many big cities have remodeled their traffic signaling system, to prioritize public buses, that is to say when a bus reaches a crossing, red light on the other side of the fork will turn on automatically to give buses the right of way. Our straddling bus can learn from this BRT method. The car can make the turn with the bus if that is the direction it wants to go too; if not, the red light will be on to stop the cars beneath while the bus take the turn.

The bus is 6 m in width and 4-4.5 m high. How will people get off the bus if an accident happens to such a huge bus? Here I introduce the most advanced escaping system in the world. In the case of fire or other emergencies, the escaping door will open automatically. I believe many of you have been on a plane. Planes are equipped with inflated ladder so people can slide down on it in emergency. I put the escaping concept into the straddling bus. It is the fastest way to escape.

The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing’s Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus.


source: Tech Gadgets

Glass Multi-touch keyboard and mouse

I know those tech-loving computer geeks who dream of a computer that give you the feel of digits drumming atop virtualized letters glowing out of slippery glass. This feel has until now been given by iPad and Microsoft Surface. Jason Gidding's Kickstarter project to develop multi-touch glass keyboards and mice can finally make those dreams of yours come true. The project has been fully funded and he expects to have them to market as early as April of the next year.
According to Jason, the concept is said to use existing technology to create something more advanced than current everyday gadgets. The design has been made to look simple yet elegant and  modernistic. The multi-touch peripherals have no wires and absolutely no moving parts. As the developer puts it, the gadgets are 'doughnut and coffee resistant'. This should make those computer freaks happy who have a habit of spilling something or the other over their keyboards or mouse.

Going technical, the face of each device is built using tempered glass supported by a metal base and some other components accommodating for existing technology. Powered by Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Batteries the gadgets feature tactile sounds and lighting that can be switched on or off. The entire concept utilizes Frustrated Total Internal Reflection which exploit the behaviour of infrared LEDs inside the glass surface, emitted from a point source. this is done by the diffracting or frustrating of the rays downwards, when the panel is contacted from above. the camera on the underlying surface then detects theser rays and the software configurations perform the necessary functions.

The most interesting thing about these gizmos, espescially to developers, is that the functions are customizable as an open source software is being employed since it is being the most difficult part in integrating into the OS. This is done in order to give tinkerers the ability to continue to tweak the experience.



Reported by Gizmodo, the concept devices currently feature on Kickstarter for fundraising purposes. The project requires $50,000 (approx. Rs.2,601,000) by January 1, to help them reach the production process. You can still donate $250 for a keyboard, $150 for a mouse or $350 for both though. Or you can simply keep dreaming of how good it would be to have a keyboard that cookie-chunks can't get stuck between the keys of. You toilet-seat laptop users know what I mean.

Source: Tech Gadgets

BMW Gina

The light visionary concept car...

BMW recently revealed the 'GINA', light visionary model concept car, an innovative new exploration in car design. It is a fabric-skinned shape-shifting sports car. Gina stands for "Geometry and functions In 'N' Adaptations". Instead of the traditional steel and plastic body shell, the GINA concept uses a textile fabric starches over a wire frame. This unique idea allows the car’s skin to change shape, stretching to match the position and curve of the wire frame. This idea is demonstrated in the ‘blinking’; headlights and the flexibility of the car doors as they open. The project began by questioning the purpose of a car’s body and exploring new possibilities. Designed by BMW's head of design, Chris Bangle and his team, who says Gina allowed them to 'challenge existing principles and conventional processes. The construction began in 2001.

                                                        BMW Gina, BMW Museum, Munchen, Germany.

Fabric body

The flexible, stretchable, water resistant, translucent, man-made fabric skin – polyurethane-coated Spandex, is resilient and durable. It resists high or low temperatures, does not swell or shrink and the movement does not slacken or damage the fabric. The body changes its shape according to exterior conditions and speeds, and it also allows the driver to change its shape at will. The fabric is stretched over a moveable frame; essential shapes are formed beneath the skin by an aluminium wire structure, though at points where movement is needed (ducts, door openings, spoiler) flexible carbon struts are used. The shape of the frame is controlled by many electric and hydraulic actuators, for example, the headlights are revealed when small motors pull the fabric back in an eyelid like fashion. As the fabric is translucent the taillights shine through it.

Transformations

• Exterior

GINA has just four panels — the bonnet, the two side panels and the boot. Its skin appears seamless, but it can “grow” a higher rear spoiler for stability at high speed. Its doors open in a butterfly style, and are each covered by a fabric piece reaching all the way from the nose of the car to their trailing edge which when closed leaves a perfectly smooth surface. Access to the engine can be gained through a slit that can open in the middle of the bonnet.

• Interior

When the car is parked, the car’s steering wheel and instruments sit in an ‘idle’ position on the centre console to allow the driver easy entry. The steering wheel and instruments assume their correct positions when the driver presses the start button and the headrest rises from the seat once the driver is seated, making it easier to get in and out of the car.

Top Ten Scientific Breakthroughs of 2010

Modern age is often referred to as the science age because of the changes, both qualitative and quantitative, brought about by science. In fact in today's world, we cannot think of anything without having a scientific approach to it. Science consists in experimentation, and finding out the mysterious aspects of nature. Every year hundreds of new discoveries are made, but all of them are not included in the list of breakthroughs. Breakthroughs are those discoveries which seem to have qualities that may impact the patterns of thoughts regarding some particular things or principles. Seen from this viewpoint, the top ten breakthroughs of the year 2010 are:
1. The Quantum Machine
Until March 2010, all man-made objects had moved according to the laws of classical mechanics. Back in March, however, a group of researchers designed a gadget that moves in ways that can only be described by quantum mechanics as the rules that govern the behaviour of tiny things like molecules atoms and subatomic particles. In recognition of the conceptual ground their experiment breaks, the ingenuity behind it and its many potential applications, Science has called this discovery the most significant scientific advance of 2010.
The quantum machine proves that the principles of quantum mechanics can apply to the motion of macroscopic objects, as well as atomic and subatomic particles. It provides the first key step towards gaining complete control over an object's vibrations at the quantum level. Such control over an engineered device should allow scientists to manipulate those miniscule movements, much to control the quantum states of light, ultra-sensitive force detectors, and ultimately, investigations into the bounds of quantum mechanics and our sense of reality.
2. Synthetic Biology
In a defining moment for biology and biotechnology, researchers built a synthetic genome and used it to transform the identity of a bacterium. The genome replaced the bacterium's DNA so that it produced a new set of proteins-an achievement that prompted a Congressional hearing on synthetic biology. In the future, researchers envision synthetic genomes that are custom built to generate biofuels, pharmaceuticals and other useful chemicals.
3. Neanderthal Genome
Researchers sequenced the Neanderthal genome from the bones of three female Neanderthals who lived in Croatia sometime between 38,000 and 44,000 years ago. New methods of sequencing degraded fragments of DNA allowed scientists to make the first direct comparisons between the modern human genome  and that of our Neanderthal ancestors.
4. HIV Prophylaxis
Two HIV prevention trials of different, novel strategies reported unequivocal success: A vaginal gel, that contains the anti-HIV drug tenofovir, reduced HIV infection in women by 39 percent and an oral pre-exposure prophylaxis led to 43.8 fewer HIV infections in a group of men and transgender women who have sex with men.
5. Exome Sequencing/Rare Disease Genes
By sequencing just the exons of a genome, or the tiny portion that actually codes for proteins, researchers, who study rare inherited diseases caused by a single flawed gene, were able to identify specific mutations underlying at least a dozen diseases.
6. Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Simulating the gyrations, that proteins make as they fold, has been a combinatorial nightmare. Now, researchers have harnessed the power of one of the world's most powerful computers to track the motions of atoms in a small, folding protein for a length of 100 times longer than any previous efforts.
7. Next-Generation Genomics
Faster and cheaper sequencing technologies are enabling very large-scale studies of both ancient and modern DNA. The 1,000 Genomes project, for example, has already indentified much of the genome variation that makes us uniquely human and other projects in the works are set to reveal much more of the genome's functions.
8. RNA Reprogramming
Reprogramming cells turning back their developmental clocks to make them behave like unspecialized "stem cells" in an embryo has become a standard lab technique for studying diseases and development.
In 2010, researchers found a way to do it, using synthetic RNA.
9. Quantum Simulator
To describe what they see in the lab, physicists cook up theories based on equations. Those equations can be fiendishly hard to solve. In 2010, researchers found a short-cut by making quantum simulators artificial crystals in which spots of laser light play the role of ions and atoms trapped in the light stand in for electrons. The devices provide quick answers to theoretical problems in condensed matter physics and they might eventually help solve mysteries such as superconductivity.
10. The Return of the Rat
Mice rule the world of laboratory animals, but for many purposes, researchers would rather use rats. Rats are easier to work with and anatomically more similar to human beings. A flurry of research in 2010, however promises to bring "knockout rats" to labs in a big way.
All the scientific breakthroughs help scientific minds to carry on the uphill task of discovering unknown aspects of nature as well as inventing new mechanisms to unravel the mysteries that have been lying partially revealed in nature for ages, creating a lot of confusion. Human civilization never looks back and always tries to step forward in quest of better understanding of the universe, and science becomes a tool in its hands. In other words scientific breakthroughs become part and parcel of our life in course of time and we look forward to others that are to follow.
Source: Competition Success Review October 2011 Issue