Team Interim Report

Team #36

Las Cruces High School

Engineering (bioengineering, robotics)

Moving Prosthetic Arms Using Radio Waves

Problem: Can prosthetic arms move by using radio waves?

Purpose: Many people do not want to go through surgery to have a new limb that can move. Others don't have enough money for that kind of surgery. The purpose of our project is to find out that if we can make prosthetic arms move without being attached to the nerve of the missing limb. If this is possible, many people will have the option of either going through surgery to have the limb attached or to just simply slide on and move at the sound of your voice.

Project Plan: The plan of our project is to buy a two-way radio microphone on a head set that is then connected to our model of an artificial arm. The arm will be built out of approximately 25-30 pieces of aluminum rods, which will be connected together by screws and bolts to make the fingers, hand, wrist, and forearm. We will then insert wires that will connect to all of the joints of the arm. Then, we will use C++ programming and create a system of radio waves that is linked into the cables of the arm through the head set to hopefully make the arm move on voice-command.

Problem
Solution: Most people don't believe that you can move a hand by using radio waves, but we believe that it is possible. What we'll be using are two small microchips (one input, one output) that will be connected to the two-way radio and the arm itself. The output microchip will be connected to the arm, and the input microchip will be connected to the two-way radio. Since most of our supplies aren't expensive, the prototype arm will be at a manageable price.

Progress
To Date: To date we have about completed the prototype arm and we have about half of the program complete. We are going to use C++ programming, which will be difficult but not complex, to use. So far, we have at least one of the microchips that have most of its program completed on it. We have tried to contact people to be our mentors, and we are still waiting for a reply.

Expected
Results: What we expect from our project is for the arm to actually move without any human assistance, with the exception of the person's voice.

Team Members:

Noreen Lopez- ----------------
Joanna Cheng- cheng_joanna@hotmail.com
Pam Watsamon Chayapum- pam8501@aol.com
Amanda Herrera- bombero@qwest.net

Sponsoring Teacher: Larry D. McBride

Mentors: José M. Herrera