The Arm v1.0

“Don’t spend any money”

I needed an arm, both quickly and on a very limited budget - so v1.0 fit those requirements/limitations.

This is a very simple mechanism but lacks a range of movement, or the range of movement I felt was necessary.

Some basic 3D printed test parts, an old mop handle and I was ready to start testing.

Hands

Designing and making the arm was the easy part, the hand and/or the quick release was the challenge. The hand I ended up with was adequate but not perfect. The quick release functions as it should, but there was a middleman in its operation.

I only had this quick release fail me once - with it releasing when I did not want it to while riding my bike. Mildly terrifying, but easily recovered and ultimately the incentive to build a better hand.

Previous to this first hand, there were many designs and 3D-printed attempts. A lot of testing and a lot of failures.

v1.0 testing

In the end, the v1.0 arm and hand were used to get me through testing for my license. I believe this arm/hand combination went on to do about 20000 km of riding without failure and is now stored away in the workshop.

Pro’s;
Cost-effective design.

Con’s;
Limited wrist articulation (roll).
Limited Elbow flexion.
It's not the prettiest arm to look at.
That quick release.