Object/Purpose:

 

I wanted to create a prosthetic for children that was more cost effective than the other prosthetics on the market. Roughly 1,500 children are born without an upper extremity which puts a lot of strain on the child and their family. With an arm that is able to help the kid with their everyday functions, but costs a lot less would really help the family. Most families spend thousands on new prosthetics because their child is growing so much on their earlier years of life. With my design I hope that all this will change.

 

Materials:

 

No physical materials were used for my original work, but I plan on 3D print the parts to my prosthetic because it is more cost effective and lightweight.

 

Description of Process:

 

The whole idea for my original work sparked form my research assessments. I started to research about prosthetics and eventually read a few articles talking about how children do not have a lot of options for prosthetics. Once I saw this I knew I wanted to create a prosthetic that would be very lightweight and cost effective to help out the child and family as the child grows. I started off by doing a lot of brainstorming and drew a few sketches. Once I started to get a very solid plan in mind I began to write out my idea. By having my words on paper I was able to see it come together, which is when I started to sketch out my design. I knew that I was not going to get every single aspect I wanted to make the perfect prosthetic, but I feel that I got the most important aspects covered. Once I had my drawing I was able to add in subtle details that would bring my design to the next level. Once I had everything I wanted I began to type my original work.

 

Higher Level Thinking:

 

I used higher level thinking by assessing a problem that I saw in the world and came up with a solution to fix it. I conducted research about the different kinds of prosthetics and was able to create a design form my research. I was able to evaluate and see what I thought was a good or bad idea when I did a sketch. I was also able to evaluate and criticize my own ideas to come up with the best possible conclusion.

 

Results:

 

I was very proud that I was able to create my own design for a prosthetic arm because at the beginning if ISM i would have never guessed it. I was able to learn that I am able to come up with my own design and was very happy to see that I was able to use my own ideas to help a cause. I hope I can continue to grow and expand this idea because I want to see my idea come to a finish.