When Richard Van As, a master carpenter in Johannesburg, South Africa, decided to make a set of mechanical fingers, it wasn’t just for fun. He’d lost four of the fingers on his right hand in an unfortunate work accident. For a tradesman like Rich, having a disabled hand is a big professional detriment, so Richard decided on the day of his the incident that he would use the tools available to him to remedy his situation. Watch the inspiring video above to hear how Richard’s project, Robohand, is changing lives with patience, spirit, and a MakerBot Replicator 2.

Getting Started

MakerBot heard about the Robohand project in January 2013. Richard had been trading ideas with Ivan Owen, a collaborator in Washington State, for several months. Ivan used his prior experience with mechanical prop hands to make design suggestions, while Richard attempted to replicate the designs in his workshop.

The process was taking weeks and months per cycle. For us here at MakerBot, that was too much wasted time. We knew our 3D printer, the MakerBot Replicator 2, could take this important work to new heights. We saw their collaboration and the work they were doing as groundbreaking, and we asked Ivan and Richard to accept a donation from us: a MakerBot Replicator 2 for each of them, one in Washington, and another in South Africa.

If the tool was useful to them, we hoped they would share their work on Thingiverse.com for the world to download. It turns out the MakerBots were incredibly useful, and the guys have followed through on their promise. Just hours after they received their packages from us here in Brooklyn, the two collaborators were sharing files back and forth, testing the design in one place and doing another iteration on the other side of the world. Richard says it took the prototyping process down from weeks to just 20 minutes.

But that’s only half the story.

Giving A Hand

Robohand has grown far beyond the goal of making a set of fingers just for Richard. When the power of desktop 3D printing and MakerBot entered the picture, Richard began to realize how quickly he could refine a design for other people who have lost their fingers, or who were born without fingers. After posting his own story, he received emails and Facebook messages from parents whose children were candidates for a Robohand of their own. One of these children was five-year-old Liam.

The condition Amniotic Band Syndrome is poorly understood, but the effects of it are pretty clear. Children are often born without extremities, especially fingers and toes, when fibrous bands in the womb prevent these parts from developing normally. It’s this condition that caused Liam to be born with no fingers on his right hand. The cost of purchasing a traditional prosthesis was far too much for the family, especially since Liam is a young and fast growing boy who would outgrow a prosthesis in a few months.

Liam was given a Robohand just days after Richard and Ivan received their MakerBots in January, 2013, and he has already been fitted for his second. The word spread, and other kids in the Johannesburg area like Liam with Amniotic Band Syndrome have received their own Robohands, sized just for them. The files, including the assembly instructions, have been posted online at Thingiverse, and they have been downloaded over 3,800 times by people around the globe.

What Is A Robohand?

A Robohand is a set of mechanical fingers that open and close to grasp things based on the motion of the wrist. When the wrist folds and contracts, the cables attaching the fingers to the base structure cause the fingers to curl. Nearly all the parts of a Robohand are 3D printed on MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D printers.

Ivan, who played a big part in the initial design stages of Robohand, says he studied the anatomy of crab legs and human fingers to get the basic muscle and tendon structure. The result is a simple assembly that Richard believes anyone can make themselves. While a full set of prosthetic fingers may cost thousands of dollars, all of the Robohand parts that are made on the MakerBot Replicator 2 add up to roughly a few dollars in material cost, with the total mechanical hand costing around $150 (USD).

Who Needs A Robohand?

Amniotic Band Syndrome affects 1 in 1,200 live births.

About 80% of cases of Amniotic Band Syndrome involve the loss or malformation of fingers and hands.

Finger amputations are the most common amputation in the US, accounting for over 90% of all amputations, according to various reports.

How Do I Get A Robohand?

Robohand was not imagined as a service or a product. Instead, Richard has shared the design files and instructions for creating a Robohand on Thingiverse so that people around the world can download, customize, print, and assemble Robohands for themselves or for others.

So far, we’ve heard stories of Robohands being made for children and adults in the US, Canada, and Thailand. Are you a MakerBot owner who can give this incredible gift to someone in your community?

Get Involved

There’s still a lot to be done. Richard has given hands-on help to a few of the people within his reach, but Robohand needs your help in order to get to the people who need it most.

● Want to spread the word? Share this video with your friends on Twitter or Facebook.
● Looking to to support the cause? Check out Robohand’s Indiegogo campaign.
● Are you an occupational therapist or prosthetist? Leave a comment below!

Make a Robohand

The design files and assembly instructions for Robohand can be found on Thingiverse.

Robohand’s creators would like to empower others around the world to use their files and create and print in 3D Robohands of their own, and they are not in the mechanical hand business. They created Robohand out of the goodness of their heart. Now it’s time to provide the files to the world and see what other good can come from them!

Robohand uses the following tools to make their mechanical hands:

● MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer
● MakerBot PLA Filament
● Stainless steel hardware
● Thermo-forming orthoplastic
● Elastic bands
● Nylon cable

The full bill of materials is listed here.

Ahead of the Maker Faire UK this weekend in Newcastle (April 27/28) Printcraft mastermind Paul Harter has just released his latest version of his Minecraft server with a ton of new features.

With over a 100 virtual build platforms on his multi-player Minecraft server, users can claim a build platform and start designing 3D printable objects using standard Minecraft tools and resources. Anyone with a Minecraft account can login to us1.printcraft.org (us) or eu1.printcraft.org (Europe) and start creating their own designs.

Once you create your Minecraft creation, place a sign down on the virtual build platform and name your model. Then head over to the signpost and hit the Print button. Your model will be transformed into a standard STL file format and a unique URL will be given to the user to open in a web browser. Visiting the link will allow you to download the file as well as easily upload the 3D design to your Thingiverse account (using our developer API).

Millions of Minecraft users can now use their design skills in-game to build, share and 3D print their creations. The possibilities are endless and we can’t wait to see what folks share to the MakerBot Thingiverse community.

Head on over to

http://www.thingiverse.com/Printcraft

and start crafting your own 3D printable designs!

On April 6-7, MakerBot Headquarters played host to a few dozen members of the MakerBot and Thingiverse communities for the first ever Thingiverse Hackathon!

If you’ve never heard of a hackathon, check out this Wikipedia explanation.

This was a fun couple of days with several great projects going on. Participants used the Thingiverse API to exploit Thingiverse data for other cool purposes, and we wanted to let you know the winners. There was a slight delay in sharing as the new Apps are still mostly in progress. But let’s share the good news anyway.

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A lithopane is an etched artwork that shows grayscale relief when you shine a light behind it.

Now you can make your own, totally customized, on Thingiverse!

We think this is one of the coolest new tools in a while. It also couldn’t be easier to use.

1. Find the Customizable Lithopane generator, and open it in MakerBot Customizer.
2. Upload the photo of your choice, preferably square, and let the tool do the work.
3. 3D Print it on your MakerBot in about an hour.

A few of our engineers did the math: making your own custom lithopane on a MakerBot is roughly a million times cooler than everything else. It’s like the 3D-printed version of Instagram. Giving a custom lithopane to someone as a gift may be the coolest thing you do in 2013. Remember, Mother’s Day is right around the corner. Here’s a lithopane using a picture of Thingiverse hero tbuser.

If you’re keeping score, the Lithopane tool is the first MakerBot Customizer design to make use of an exciting new input capability: photo surface height mapping. You input a photo and the Customizer lithopane tool detects the height variations to generate a printable pane.

Lithopanes have been around for a long time, and they’ve been on Thingiverse for a while, too! We were inspired by Thingiverse users like cymon and pp3dpNL to take this type of object and make it easy and fun to use for everyone. Enjoy!

 

I’ve got three switches in my home that pretty much need to be in the “on” position 99% of the time. The consequences of having one of these switches flipped “off” ranges from minor annoyance to zombie apocalypse. One switch goes to our front porch light, one that my laptop is usually plugged into, and the last goes to our wireless router. For a while now I had wanted to create a little cover for the light switch – basically a hollow rectangular tube that would fit over the switch and prevent someone from accidentally flipping it. While I liked the idea, I never got around to actually making it.

And then a few days ago I saw Light Switch Lock by Thingiverse citizen Yllonnoce.  The design is so simple and elegant that I knew I would be printing it immediately.  It permits temporary uses of the switch, all the while discouraging accidental usage.

As a result of someone flipping a switch I have literally lost hours of work when my laptop battery ran out of power.  Once, as a result of a laptop losing power the hard drive never started up again.  So, from now on, this is literally going to be the very first thing I install into any home I live in.  At less than 3 grams, each one would probably cost about $0.12 in plastic that will absolutely save me hours of annoyance, frustration, work, and potentially even hundreds of dollars.

A simple light switch lock like this could even be used to discouraging the accidental use of a garbage disposal, power tool, or some other appliance.  Since these switch locks work upside down, it could even save money by discouraging the accidental flipping of attic or outdoor light switches.  Not bad for a $0.12 investment.

Thingiverse has a new member, and he’s here to knock the awesome into you. According to his brand new Thingiverse page, FAKEGRIMLOCK is the greatest of all the Giant Robot Startup Dinosaurs in the universe.

For the first time, FAKEGRIMLOCK’s wisdom about building companies, shaping products and services around customers, and being awesome, will be available in book form. In fact the Kickstarter campaign for The Book of Awesome closes tomorrow!

We are fans of FAKEGRIMLOCK. Why, you ask? BECAUSE AWESOME.

So we’re doubly excited to see a new design on MakerBot Customizer that lets anyone make a sign with FAKEGRIMLOCK sayings, just like the one at the top of this post. Check it out. You just type in a question and get back a little bit of wisdom for your sign. The sign is ready for 3D printing on your MakerBot.

If you think awesome is AWESOME, then go make a sign and share it with us on Twitter, @makerbot and @thingiverse.

 

In San Francisco this week, the OUYA game console is having its official launch party. The record blasting Kickstarter project will begin shipping to tens of thousands of backers, but you can already get your hands on the console! Kinda. Read on.

OUYA started with the mission of bringing the indie gaming revolution to the TV, which they say usually leaves independent developers out. It’s a total game changer, and that pun is completely intended. The goal of making console game development open to everyone is one we love, and we’re glad to have our own slice of the project.

In the spirit of keeping things open, OUYA handed over the files for the console box itself, allowing the MakerBot Design Team to turn them into 3D-printable designs. Now anyone who buys an OUYA will be able to download the enclosure from MakerBot Thingiverse, customize, and make it in the color of filament they prefer. We like the red one.

Right now on Thingiverse, you can find the .stl files for the enclosure, and we’ll share the working files soon. The components are optimized specifically for the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, and we’ve added print instructions with recommended settings. However, you’re free to experiment with settings.

Check out more about OUYA on their website. If you’re not excited already, maybe this will help: they have Minecraft!

UPDATE! The working file (.3dm) is now available for download, too.

In the most exciting news of the entire week, we are announcing the first ever, and the first annual, MakerBot Thingiverse Hackathon.

Please join us for this two-day event if you are a developer with ideas to share on how we can explode the incredible potential of our website Thingiverse. Come alone, or come as a team. There will be prizes, but the biggest prize is the possibility of building a Thingiverse App that thousands and thousands of people will use.

In January we launched the MakerBot Customizer. It’s an App that allows Thingiverse users to upload not just 3D designs, but 3D designs that can be customized by other users. So any Thingiverse user can build unique things without any kind of 3D design skills. The Customizer has become incredibly popular and there are already hundreds of customizable designs.

Customizer is awesome, and your App should be the next groundbreaking use of the Thingiverse API.

Click here for more details about the event and to get signed up. This is going to be AWESOME.

 

The results are in! We called a close on Friday to the MakerBot Customizer Challenge, and before you read down to see the winners, you have to know one thing: this Challenge was outstanding.

Everyone who participated rocked our socks off, including those of you who were already doing great stuff with parametric design and adapted your files to work with Customizer. The participation was also huge. There were hundreds of entries spread out among the three categories (Useful, Artistic, and Wearable), and the quality of the designs made judging much harder than we expected.

So, huge kudos to the winners, who have each won a new MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer, and all the runners-up, who are fast becoming Thingiverse celebrities. Results after the jump!

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Our designers have gotten to take a closer look at the new 123D Creature app from Autodesk and are churning out some really great stuff.

Essentially what we have now is a tool to sculpt any kind of figure on a screen, export it, and make it on a MakerBot. How you use the app is up to you and your imagination, but we thought we’d offer you guys a step-by-step of the workflow once you have your design. Click below to see all the steps, and please, for the love of monsters, leave comments and tell everyone your own tips.

Before you go through these steps, you’ll want to have MeshMixer and netfabb running on your computer.

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