July 2019 Hacker of the Month Ian Davis overcame a life-threatening sickness and damage and designed a lifelike prosthetic to interchange a part of his hand.
Our July 2019 Hacker of the Month is Ian Davis from Medford, Oregon, the place he works as a prototype design engineer and metal fabricator. Since turning into an early adopter of 3D printing again in 2012 together with his buy of a MakerBot Replicator, Ian has refined his design, prototyping, and manufacturing abilities to assist him together with his present mission; making a prosthetic for the lacking digits on his left hand.
Sadly, Ian needed to undergo a ‘sack of suck’ (his phrases!) that turned him onto the design path he’s presently on. He was recognized with a number of myeloma in October 2017 – a blood most cancers that assaults plasma cells, and accumulates in bone marrow, crowding out wholesome blood cells. In 2018 we underwent a 21-day cycle of radiation remedies to stabilize the vertebrae that had been deteriorating from quite a few tumors, adopted by 3 rounds of heavy chemotherapy, in addition to a stem cell transplant. He spent a lot of the 12 months dwelling in a hospital and was extraordinarily sick. In August, after the essential 100-day post-transplant not dying interval, he began consolidation remedy; low dose chemotherapy with a six-hour infusion as soon as every week.
After this, Ian was lastly in a position to get out of the hospital and return to work. Sadly, he skilled a piece accident in November of 2018. “I didn’t let go quick sufficient and caught my hand in a machine at my store breaking the proximal bones of my index and center fingers. I discovered a hand specialist to surgically restore my work, however the stem cell transplant had left me with a really compromised immune system. Sadly, an infection set in and I used to be not responding to the antibiotics, bone an infection was blood an infection, then septicemia, then gangrene, adopted by the assertion we have to take your fingers off otherwise you’re going to die.” After a number of weeks of dropping his fingers one after the other to an infection, the medical group was in a position to get forward of the an infection and saved his thumb and metacarpals.
However Ian is fabricated from stern stuff – he started designing his prosthetic in January – simply weeks after dropping his remaining digits. “I went by way of many various renditions various from 4 phalanges to 2 phalanges. After a pile of experimentation I settled on a compromise of a two phalange system, it supplied significantly extra power than the 4 phalange model and allowed me to position the motors inside the proximal space. It additionally allowed the entire system to be from wrist ahead, nothing mounted on my forearm.”
Ian articulates his prosthetic by bending my wrist. “I take advantage of a easy lever and teeter totters to distribute and steadiness the load. I additionally use elastic bands on the again of the fingers and a torsion spring within the distal to return them to ‘dwelling’ place. I even have a torsion spring within the lever that holds it at a midpoint that barely curls the fingers. It is simply the place I’ve the endpoints set at that makes it onerous to see that it’s wrist powered. I push to straighten the fingers all the way in which and pull to understand. The usage of the 15 chain makes the system a compliant mechanism, being that if it meets with resistance within the open place the chains will slack and permit the fingers to bend out of the way in which and never break. I’ve been working with it for a couple of week and a half now with fairly good success. I get lots of discover and questions on it after I’m out and about.”
Ian designs all his work in AutoCAD and has been since 1989. He additionally has many years of expertise working in manufacturing and manufacturing of working and prototype fashions in metallic and plastic. “Since I’ve began in plastic 3D manufacturing, I’ve made varied enhancements to machines to enhance both wanted job-specific performance or to help within the manufacturing of different elements. I’ve used 3D printing to make fixturing jigs for my 3-axis CNC milling machine. Generally you simply want a little bit extra assist to carry a fancy half and a 3D printed anchor is a fast and economical approach to obtain that.”
Ian has used his design abilities for quite a few functions; “In my enterprise, I’ve made substitute automobile elements which can be now not in manufacturing and onerous to search out, working from the remnant half to create a substitute half. From NylonX I’ve made the adjustable clutch pressure gear set for a mid-‘80’s Ford Bronco; a horrible design that wears and strips, after which your automobile is parked. I’ve additionally made customized vents and lightweight housing.”
He has additionally created many little knick-knacks for round the home, various from mirror brackets and bathe curtain rings to miniatures and collectible figurines.
Total, Ian has designed and created a whole bunch of things for an enormous number of functions, and he sees additive manufacturing as a significant component within the improvement of his prosthetic. “Additive manufacturing has allowed me to design and fabricate elements that in any other case could be
tough to provide utilizing different typical manufacturing processes. I’ve additionally tailored the identical course of concept utilized in 3D printing to different CNC machines. For example, I’ve hooked up a customized straight MIG gun to my CNC plasma to ‘weld 3D print’, both to automate a manufacturing welding course of or to additive-weld a boss or characteristic to later be milled into dimensional necessities. I’ve additionally used this so as to add weld element to a decorative iron railing, something from particulars on flowers to leaves on flowers.”
Ian presently works together with his OG MakerBot Replicator, in addition to a SeeMeCNC Rostock v2 and a Peopoly Moai 130 for extremely detailed work. He additionally has a big format 3D printer that he designed particularly for his store.
Lots of the designs that Ian creates name for ABS and carbon-fiber infused NylonX filament. He does use post-processing for his purposeful elements, primarily gentle sanding and acetone wipes to clean out layer strains.
What new developments does Ian hope to see from 3D printing? “Sooner or later, I’d like to see resins and filament high quality and adhesion enhance in order that “actual” elements might be made utilizing this course of quite than de-rated power elements. The method through which additive manufactured elements are created is inherently the reason for the weak spot; layer by layer creation is the place failure often happens within the plastic replica elements. You may mitigate that to some extent by half orientation and the way the filament is laid all the way down to construct the half, however there’s nonetheless a built-in weak spot within the half.”
However Ian does see that entry to 3D printing and design software program far more open now than previously. “With the drop in machine price from the place it was after I began, the accessibility to machines and software program is actually to the place the place anybody can digitally design. I believe that the true drawback is that the maker tradition and excellent is, sadly, a really small market sector in comparison with the straight-up shopper market. Being contained in the maker tradition you don’t see it as a lot since you are surrounded by like-minded makers, however if you cope with most people you notice that most individuals are proud of what is obtainable to the market quite than having the spark to create one thing customized and distinctive.”
Ian’s future plans are to enhance upon his designs for his prosthetic, not only for himself, however for others as effectively. “My foremost focus presently is to interrupt into the bio-med engineering market to additional prosthetic design and improvement. Development within the design of prosthetic palms hasn’t seen a dramatic enchancment in many years. Implementing present developments with microprocessors and sensors may actually assist restore performance and sense to a lacking limb.”
We sit up for seeing the ultimate product of Ian’s efforts, and the way he can modify his prosthetic for varied different functions.
You may comply with Ian’s progress on his new builds and design iterations on his YouTube channel right here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv1xxFkEiAdCVy6foEEUIvw
Are you a 3D printing Hacker or know somebody that’s? We might like to share their story with the 3D printing neighborhood! Please e mail chris.morgan@matterhackers.com with info, and also you or your buddy could possibly be our featured Hacker of the Month.
