A dedicated group of University of Florida students is hard at work building what will be the ultimate Christmas gift for a child in Florida: an arm.Composed of about 20 engineering students, the group is part of Limbitless Solutions, a nonprofit organization that uses innovative techniques to create prosthetic limbs for children in need.
Albert Manero founded Limbitless at the University of Central Florida in 2014. Last spring, members of his team visited UF to deliver a presentation at the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers’ conference that inspired students to get involved.
“As engineers and as students of a prestigious university, it is our job to help people,” said 22-year-old Tanya Therathanakorn, the branch manager of Limbitless Solutions: Gainesville. “When I saw the presentation, I knew it was a great opportunity to help people out.”
After expressing a desire to be involved, the group of students received an instruction manual and arm parts in the mail along with a challenge: build a bionic arm.
“It was basically a way to prove ourselves,” Therathanakorn said.
They spent eight weeks over the summer tinkering with electronics, experimenting with 3D printers and assembling parts, sometimes spending over six hours in a room deciphering the instruction manual.
“The first time we got the motor to work, everyone was so excited they were filming it with their phones,” Therathanakorn said, smiling. “The motor wasn’t even in the arm yet, and it was already such an accomplishment.”
Limbitless arms are made using 3D printers and are powered by a battery. In order for the hand to move, the child must simply flex his or her bicep. A series of electrodes attached to the bicep sense when it is being flexed and send a signal to a microprocessor. The microprocessor then commands the motor to pull five steel wires that cause the hand to contract.
The arm the UF group is currently working on is part of Limbitless Solutions’ 12 Arms for Christmas campaign, which aims to create and donate bionic arms to 12 kids in 11 different states for the holiday season. The team has been tasked with making an arm for one of the 12 kids.
“Seeing a child smile is probably the best feeling,” said Elaine Del Rosario, the team’s aesthetics design leader. “Especially if it’s because we’re giving them something that they’ve always wanted.”
Each arm features a unique design that is custom-tailored to fit the child’s personality. Taking into consideration all of interests, the UF chapter of Limbitless has already created a design for its assigned child and is well underway to complete the arm in time for Christmas. “One of the things that our arm does for the child is it gives them confidence,” Therathanakorn said. “It helps them focus not on what they’re lacking but on what they have, a cool robot arm.”
Alex Pring was the first child to receive an arm from Limbitless Solutions, said Therathanakorn. The prosthetic, which was designed to look like Iron Man’s arm, gave him something to be proud of and led to a surge in his self-confidence.
“It’s great to be a part of something that can inspire such happiness and confidence into children,” said Kendall Wade, one of the team’s ergonomics leaders.
Limbitless is focused on providing arms for children ages 5 to 15, Kendall said. Insurance companies are less likely to pay for their arms because they will outgrow them within months. However, 3D printing allows for existing arms to be easily modified and updated, making it so the arm grows with the child.
“We are making two impacts,” said Santiago Marin, the team’s mechanical division leader. “The main impact being that we are improving the child’s life and psychological state. But also, by showing that we are able to make these 3D-printed arms, we are impacting the importance of 3D printing and giving incentive to companies or individuals who make 3D printers to develop the technology further.”
Compared to the thousands of dollars it takes to build traditional prosthetics, Limbitless arms are built with less than $500 and offer kids a long-lasting solution.
“Limbitless believes that no child should have to pay for an arm and no one should profit from someone else’s disability,” Therathanakorn said. “Here at UF, we believe that as well.”