2017 Engineering Excellence Awards

Build 2017 Engineering Excellence Awards 4 tilising Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect scanners, Ambionics creates fully customised limbs which are tailored to the user from a 3D scan of their arm. For ease, parents are able to perform the scan at home whilst their chil- dren are asleep. Once this is done, they simply send the file over to the team at Ambionics, who clean up the scan data then design and supply test sockets, which are later followed by the full arm system. The designs are created at low cost but high quality, and using inno- vative technology they can be made to feel the same as a real limb. By placing water-filled rubber sacks (actuators) at pressure points on the body (e.g. under the arm, inside the socket or even within a shoe), pressure can be generated by the user which then operates the grabbing system in the same way that spiders move their legs. This unique ap- proach reduces the cost and improves the lives of children, and could be used worldwide to support children. Looking ahead, thanks to support from its sponsor RS Components, and with design input from Autodesk, Ambionics are carrying out a beta trial and giving away twenty arms to children in Africa, Australia, South Amer- ica, Canada and across Europe. The firm’s inexpensive but life changing technology could help very young children learn to use prosthetics and live more engaging lives right from the very start, and as such Ambionics will be seeking to expand and grow so that they can provide it to even more children. With obvious benefits to the children, this is also helping Ambionics to refine its service, develop prototypes and beta test the systems and processes needed to roll out on a large scale in 2018-19. Ambionics will be based at the new science park (M-SParc) on the North Wales coast when it opens early next year, and these developments offer the firm the chance to grow and offer this unique service to a vast array of children internationally. Ambionics Ltd Best Infant Prosthetics Developer - UK Ambionics Ltd is an innovative firm that utilises 3D printing technology to create bionic limbs for children without forearms. We profile the firm to find out more about the vital work it undertakes. U