The first week’s focus was to do research on which prosthetic hand would serve as the best base and straw man concept for this project. Research found that there are many open source prosthetic hands available that already have functioning mechanisms and 3-D printing .sdl or CAD files. As to not “start from scratch”, it proved most beneficial for us to start our research here rather than from physiological structures.

Combined research and collaboration within the group defined the straw man to be used as the “Tact Hand” by Instructables. This model was very useful as it provided necessary instructions and materials in order to build a prosthetic hand. However, it is never as simple as it looks and with this in mind, I delved into reading about the mechanisms of movement and assembly techniques that would be required of me in the impending manufacturing processes.

I needed to be aware of the physical capabilities, mechanical interfaces, and general structures of the hand model in order to adequately participate in the project and subsystem requirement building process to come. This knowledge was crucial to enhance “realizability” of the product in relation to the requirements and mission objective set forth. My insight into the mechanical limitations of the hand proved highly beneficial when constructing realizable goals for the project.

Finally, this week was also used to determine the most efficient and effective method of retrieving parts required. In order to combat any potential delays in shipping or problems with the parts, I was able to formulate a schedule based on part retrieval time as well as research multiple options for each required part. My research was based on the parts required for the Tact Hand, specifically. Using this knowledge, I was better able to predict when 3-D printing would be feasible and when a prototype could be created.