3D Printed Bionic Prosthetic Hands
Jan Koprnický
Petr Najman
Institute of Mechatronics and Computer Engineering
Faculty of Mechatronics,
Technical University of Liberec
Liberec, Czech Republic
Email: jan.koprnicky@tul.cz, petr.najman@tul.cz
Abstract—This article deals with upper limb prosthetic made
by 3D printing technology. For tests and analysis the number
of open-source bionic hands (eNable and exiii’s HACKberry
projects) were chosen. These hands represent low cost solution
of conventional or myolectric prosthesis. Our investigation
was focused on three main parts: 3D printing using different
3D printers, technologies and materials; assembly with the
use of commonly gettable fasteners and devices on Czech
market; functionality testing under laboratory condition. In
conclusion our results of these fields are summarized and
possible improvements are outlined.
Index Terms—Bionic Hand, 3D Printing, eNable, HACKberry,
Conventional Prosthesis, Myolectric Prosthesis, MyoWare
1. Introduction
The technology of 3D printing is young and dynamically
developing field of production. It is possible to get physical
model from virtual 3D data rapidly. Beside this it has
the prosthetic technology standardised procedures with long
history. The productivity speed is quite slow compared to
series kind of production. The output products of these two
fields can be or are already highly individualized. This is the
reason why it increases the use of 3D printing technology
in prosthetics. It is applied in commercial as well as in
academic spheres, but also in open source projects.
In following text 3D printing technologies used for
prosthetic hand printing are described. Short overview of
projects that deal with prosthetic hands where 3D printing
technology is used or the complexity of prosthesis is similar
to our chosen projects follows.
In the last part of this article our experiences with active
prosthetic hands (HACKberry [2] and eNable [30], [31]) 3D
printed and assembled at Technical University of Liberec
(TUL) is summarized.
2. 3D Printing Technology
3D printing technologies enable using of different print-
ing materials as are metal powders, thermoplastic polymers,
Jiřı́ Šafka
Department of industrial technology
Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technology
and Innovation,
Technical University of Liberec
Liberec, Czech Republic
Email: jiri.safka@tul.cz
photo polymers, moulding sands for casting etc. 3D printing
process differs from conventional types of manufacturing.
During conventional machining the material is removed.
Basic principle of 3D printing is opposite, the material is
added. Final 3D shape “grows” layer by layer. This is the
reason why such style of productions are called additive
manufacturing (AM). Disadvantages of these technologies
compare to conventional can be seen in worse mechanical
properties or higher price of commercial machines or higher
prices of input materials.
Nowadays, there exist fortunately number of so called
open technologies. One of such very well known unpatented
technique is for instance FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication)
technology. It is equivalent technology to FDM (Fused
Deposition Modelling) which is already not patented but the
FDM is registered trademark of Stratasys company [3]. Both
technologies work with thermoplastic polymers in filament
form. Thermally controlled nozzle eject molten material and
deposit it on electrically controlled movable table. After one
layer deposition table is positioned the same distance as the
thickness of the layer. 3D process is repeated until the part is
not built. Due to finishing of patents protection in the field of
3D technology there arose several directions of 3D printing.
The basic principle (mission, idea) is in low financial cost of
production, use of open materials – variability, and shorten
production time. One of major example of such open source
project is RepRap project [1].
The sense of this open source technology is to share all
know-how. The name of RepRap came from basic idea –
replicate itself. Every user can print spare part for broken
3D printer. This same open source approach is used in
HACKberry project which deals with active prosthetic hand
3D printed by FDM technology.
RepRap projects enable according to used extruder to
process different types of thermoforming polymer materials.
It is appropriate to mention that material variability is quite
limited by commercial machines. They can use material
supplied by the producer of certain 3D machine only. Ma-
chine producers protect input materials by different methods
such as ID chips or by other controlled mechanisms. Open
source projects have not similar limitations they can control
almost all parameters of 3D printing procedure (temperature,
movement speed, hatching, etc.). RepRap machines use ma-
terials with low temperature of glass transition. It is because
the special 3D printing box with controlled temperature is
patented by Stratasys company and under certain tempera-
tures is not necessary. The temperature surrounding control
minimize internal material tension caused by different tem-
peratures (deposed material – building tables). Open source
projects reduce this effect by heating of building tables.
Unfortunately this solution is not suitable for large 3D
models where internal tension occur and can cause damage
of printed model.
(a) Case I (17,348 triangles, file size
There exist few tips and notes when 3D models for 3D 867 kB)
printing are designed. The main principles as experiences of
different communities of users of 3D printers (f.i. [4], [5],
[6], [7], [8], [9]) are summarized in following text.

• Beware of printing of too thin as well as too high

walls: When thin walls are printed without support
structure the warping of wall arises as a result of
its weight. It is recommended to maintain specific
ratio between thickness and height of 3D printed
contour. The common recommendation for FDM
or FFF technologies is wall = 4 × layer. The
wall thickness is mostly 0.25 mm. This rule is not
suitable for all 3D technologies, it depends on used
technology and chosen material.
• Chamfer/Fillet edges to reduce stress points: It is
necessary to avoid sharp transitions where deforma-
tion tension can observe and caused model damage.
The minimal radius by internal or external edges
is suitable to design. There are expected slightly
rounded external corners by FDM and FFF tech-
nologies.
• Assemble rather than print all at once: It is rec-
ommended by FFF technology to print simple and
smaller parts than complex and big parts, and these
parts then manually assemble. In according with this
procedure the support material is saved and warping
that can occur by large objects is minimized.
• Construction of horizontal holes: It is recommended
when holes are designed to think about whole part
placement during 3D printing. The support material
can be saved as well as the impurities in a model
from support structure can be limited. By standard
holes design their full-fill by support structure is
made automatically. When the drop design is used
the support structure is eliminated, the support ma-
terial and 3D printing time is saved.
• Data export to STL format: It is essential to set
proper resolution when the model is exported to
STL format. In Figure 1 there is markable difference
in export quality between two types of parameter
settings. The direct impact of these parameters on
to output quality and preciseness of 3D printing is
evident.
• Model orientation in 3D printing space: If the me-
chanical stress of the 3D printed part is taken into
(b) Case II (1,030 triangles, file size
51 kB)
Figure 1. Different resolutions in STL format.
account the proper orientation of the part during 3D
printing is necessary to take into account also. It is
recommended to orient the part to the position where
direction of load forces are parallel to direction of
printed filaments not perpendicular.
• 3D infill of objects: The main advantage of 3D
technologies is production of light weight internal
structures (solid infill to specific ration, different
infill shapes). The whole weight as well as con-
sumption of construction material can be reduced.
The shortening of production time is also benefit.
3. Upper Limb Prostheses
Prosthetics use artificial device to substitute missing
body parts. This article follows up only narrow range of
this complex domain. It deals with upper limb prostheses
(ULP), below elbow prostheses mostly.
At the beginning of this part it is appropriate for better
understanding to make brief classification of prostheses and
basic hand grips and gestures.
Classification of ULPs can be done as follows [10]:
• Passive
– Cosmetic Prostheses (Cosmesis)
• Active
 – Conventional (Body-Powered) Prostheses 4.1. HACKberry project
– Electrically Powered Prostheses
∗ Myoelectric Control Our investigation started with Japanese open source
∗ Servo Control project HACKberry bionic hand [2] offered to public by
∗ Push Button Control exiii company in the year 2015 (see TUL version of the
∗ Harness Switch Control hand in Figure 2).

There exist other hybrid types, obsolete or minor solu-

tions of prostheses, but they were not taken into account in
the list.
Human grips taxonomies as is analysed and compared in
[11] plays important role in common terminology in domain
such as human-computer interaction etc. Authors summarize
17 general grips from 33 types. We use for our purposes
short list of grips and gestures mentioned in Open Bionics
project web pages [13] (similar to HACKberry project):
• Grips
– Pinch grip
Figure 2. Printed and assembled HACKberry hand at TUL.
– Hook
– Tripod grip
..
. Design of the Hand. The hand is active prosthesis electri-
cally powered type. The control system is based on Arduino
• Gestures Micro [25] technology. Depending on controlling applica-
– Full open / close tion in the processor different styles of using/controlling can
– Thumbs up / down be applied. The hand can operate like myoelectric prostheses
– Index finger point or with push buttons or in combination. The system has
.. 6 inputs (1 pressure sensor, 4 push buttons, 1 ON/OFF
.
switch) and 3 outputs (3 servo drives) (see block diagram
In the domain of ULP there are number of commercial in Figure 3).
subjects they offer different types of artificial hands. As hi-
tech models of myoelectric prostheses can be mentioned
Bebionic of Steeper [14], Michelangelo of Ottobock [15],
i-limb of Touch Bionics [16]. There exist also research
institutions [17] and projects [18], [19] and many others SD3 SD2
which work on interdisciplinary tasks such as robotic hands, SD1
advanced upper-extremity prosthesis etc.
We were mostly inspired by following open source ON B1 B2 B3 B4
projects: eNable [20], Limbitless [21], NotImpossible [22],
Open Bionics [13], ROMP [23], Youbionic [24], MHK com- PC
munity [27]. Volunteers in these projects use more accessible Arduino Micro
3D technologies for prostheses production and share their
know-how among members in their communities. The main
aim of these activities is to spread new technologies and DC/DC
their products, prostheses, as close as possible to people
they need them. Open source prostheses cover all types of
models classified above. BAT SEN

4. 3D Printed Hands at TUL Figure 3. Block diagram of the HACKberry hand system.

Laboratory of prototype technologies and processes at

TUL is equipped by FDM, FFF, SLM, PolyJet and SLA
3D printing, and 3D scanning technologies. It ensures us
wide scale of accessible technologies that can be used in
prostheses printing.
Electronic control systems, sensors, battery management
system, electric measurement and data analysis, all this was
done in laboratories of Faculty of Mechatronics.
Manufacturing of the Hand. The hand was printed mainly
by FDM technology on Fortus 450 machine. The material
PC or PC-ABS was used because its mechanical properties.
Unfortunately this machine can not process thermoplastic
polyurethane (TPU) materials (flexible kind of materials).
Therefore RepRap Felix 3.1.a printer with its FFF technol-
ogy was used for flexible finger tips printing.
 The electronic parts were bought (Arduino Micro, servo
drives, sensors, electronic parts), manufactured (PCBs) and
assembled with 3D printed parts. The majority of these parts
are embedded in the palm of the hand. The sensor, battery
pack, DC/DC changer, these are mounted in forearm part as
is usual by such types of prosthesis.

Testing of the Hand. The hand was tested from the func-
tional point of view mainly. The already prepared program
for Arduino was analyzed and modified for tests in robotic
modes (long-lasting cyclic running) as well as in mode
where the hand is controlled by user (with different sensors).
Mechanical tests were not realized under heavy duty
conditions yet. The construction is quite fragile and until
the publishing of this article we had one hand model only.
Servo drives have not high power to handle with heavily Figure 5. Comparison of two different sensors for controlling HACKberry
loads. We have tested the hand in a car cockpit (see Figure hand (note: waveforms display similar signals)
4). Closer analysis of capability of the hand will be studied.

and Phoenix V2 [31] were chosen. These hands are active

prostheses powered by human body. The extension of hand
movement (palm opening) is made by flexible 3D printed
hinges (Flexy Hand) or by dental bands (Phoenix hand) (see
detail in Figure 6).

Figure 4. HACKberry under testing in car cockpit (on gear shift).

Project Presentation. The part of this project at TUL was

solved and then presented in the middle of the year 2016
at Student Conference of Faculty of Mechatronics at TUL
[26].
In the same time Nicolas Huchet from MHK association
[27] built HACKberry hand at Fab Lab Berlin. The descrip-
tion as well as tutorial of his work is done in detail on web
pages [28].
Independently of his work we have got the same idea to
use MyoWare sensor [29] instead of HACKberry pressure
sensor to control the hand movement. A rough comparison
of signals from these sensors can be seen in Figure 5.
Displayed signals were not measured in the same time
therefore reactions are not time based.
Deep analysis and tests of these and other sensors with
the focus on their accuracy, repeatability, durability, etc. will
be tasks for future work.
4.2. eNable Hands
When HACKberry hand was assembled we had problem
to find not 3D printed connection materials in the market
such as fasteners, springs etc. The possible solution can be
found in design of hands in eNable open source project.
For testing two models of eNable hands Flexy Hand 2 [30]
Figure 6. Flexy Hand 2 and Phoenix V2 hand.
Although there are no sensors in eNable hands they
could be used as myolectric prostheses as shown MIT
project [32] or limbitless project [21]. Both of them use
as the core hand Flexy Hand model.
It is also an inspiration for future work to make an syn-
thesis of different models and make optimal design without
non-standard parts (screws, springs etc.).
4.3. Used CAD Software
Very important role in working process has proper CAD
software for data adjustment. There were used Magics, Ca-
tia, Inventor, ProEngineer, Slicer and other CAD programs.
We also discovered for our work useful CAD tool OnShape
[33] fully cloud system that is accessible via web browser.
The collaboration work is essential behaviour of the tool.
Another SW tool we have used was parametric 3D modeller
OpenSCAD [34]. Preparation of prosthesis 3D model could
be done by setting of proper variables that can represent
biometric data.
5. Conclusion
Technology of 3D printing opens new opportunities of
its using in prosthetics. It is possible to design and adapt
individual prosthetic device very quickly with the help of
CAD techniques. Another important benefit is in the cost
and availability of spare parts. In the case of failure it is
easy to print proper part and implement it. Unfortunately
it is not possible yet to get prostheses with the equivalent
level of quality to commercials by 3D printing only. But
the development of materials and 3D technologies tends
closer to the quality of outputs from conventional types
production/manufacturing.
This article brings brief information about development
of 3D printed prosthetic hands at TUL. It shows great
potential in the range of research as well as in education
activities.
In the future work there is offered using new materials
for 3D printing, using 3D scan of parts of human hands,
applying new types of sensors to ensure close feedback
loop or interface human to artificial hand, and designing
parametrized CAD models for easy prostheses customisa-
tion.
Acknowledgment
The results of this project LO1201 were obtained
through the financial support of the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sports in the framework of the targeted support
of the “National Programme for Sustainability I” and the
OPR&DI project Centre for Nanomaterials, Advanced Tech-
nologies and Innovation CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0005. This work
was also supported from specific university research funds
of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech
Republic and funds from Škoda Car Company.
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