Suzanne contacted Robohand inquiring about a hand for her brother. As it turned out she was in Australia and he was in South Africa. Suzanne and her husband were coming to South Africa on holiday to visit all the family and she requested if we could do Johann’s Roboarm while she was here.

We worked out all the logistics and the day before Suzanne was going to leave Australia her daughter told her that the reason they wanted them to come on holiday was that she was getting married!

So it was a double whammy holiday! After Johann received his Roboarm we asked Suzanne if she wouldn’t mind giving us some insight into her experience with Robohand. This is what she had to say:

“Around 6 weeks ago my brother Johann’s right hand was amputated at his wrist.  At that time I heard about Rich van As and started the search and made the eventual contact – all the way from Australia!

My husband and I traveled to South Africa and together with Johann and his wife Melindi, met with Rich to discuss if he could help. On Tuesday, 27th August 2013, Rich welcomed us to his workshop to fit a hand for Johann.  During the preceding weekend, “Maggie” the 3D printer produced the components of a new hand for Johann. 

Rich assembled this and on Tuesday, spent the day fitting the hand and fine-tuning the settings.  On Tuesday afternoon, Johann managed to pick up a small ball, a roll of kitchen towel and almost hold a cup. After three days he is almost completely independent again and he proudly announced on Friday that he can sign his name!
This has made a significant difference in his life and we would like to thank Rich and everyone involved in the development for the opportunity for Johann to be the recipient of a Robohand. You are special people helping those with disabilities to regain their will to live and work.”

Thomas is 7 years old and is in Grade 1. Thomas was born with ABS like so many other children that have visited Robohand.

He is a very excited young man and chatters on and on about all sorts of things. He has a very vivid imagination. We think he just likes the sound of his own voice.

The family Brian, Mariska and Sarah-lee came to visit a few weeks ago for a fitting and to see if Thomas is a candidate for a Robohand. Since then Thomas has told his entire school that he is getting his Robohand today and everyone will be waiting patiently for him on Monday morning.

When the family arrived this morning Thomas got straight on the chair and started chattering away about getting his Robohand. As usual Rich starts with the fitting of the hand cap and gauntlet which is the most tedious and lengthy process.

When Thomas was here for his fitting, he put in a request for red and white fingers. Rich duly obliged.

It is the middle of winter here in Johannesburg at the moment and Rich’s workshop is freezing. So after some nice hot coffee and hot chocolate, we carried on with the fitting.

Thomas enjoys cricket which is his favourite activity. He can’t wait to play cricket with his new Robohand and we are hoping that it will be an extremely positive thing and he will grow from strength to strength. Thomas also believes that you shouldn’t do any running if there is no ball involved. His sister did cross country at the beginning of week and his mom asked Thomas if he would like to join in the running. Thomas’ response was “But there’s no ball, so why should I run?”

Thomas’ other pass time is Video games. He love shooting games the most but also enjoys driving games. He enjoys soccer too.

Thomas is very popular and has lots of friends. He told us that he has a girlfriend who he is going to marry but he is going to stay with his mom and dad so he doesn’t have so far to travel to school. He is good at Maths and hates vegetables, especially peas and green ones.

After another long day for Rich, Thomas has a happy grin when he leaves with his Robohand.

Junior and his Mom, Thandi, saw Richard’s interview on eNews (the local TV station in South Africa) a couple of months back and Junior got very excited and asked his Mom to contact us and see if there was a possibility that he could receive a hand.

We have been in discussions since then and Junior finally arrived for his fitting. He is a very quiet spoken young boy of 9 years old. He loves to play soccer (football) and tennis at school. His Mom says that he’s even played rugby.

It was a very long day as Richard could not get any measurements before Junior arrived so could not pre-print a hand (which takes about 5 hours), but luckily after Junior was measured up, Richard disassembled a hand he had in stock that was the right size so could use that for Junior.

Due to the odd shape of Junior’s hand, Richard had to do some customising for the hinges and you will see from the picture above that it bends round the top of the hand cap.

In conversation with Thandi, Junior’s Mom, she had no idea while she was pregnant that there was a problem. Like so many children born with ABS, the parents have no idea until they see their child for the very first time. No one could tell her why or what his condition was called and through all these years she felt so guilty, that she had done something wrong.
Thankfully ABS is becoming a more well know condition and more spoken about among communities.

Junior has many friends and hopefully he will now become the coolest kid at school. He has to practice extensively to utilise just his wrist to get his new hand to open and close.

Thank you to Junior and Thandi for giving Robohand this opportunity of enabling Junior to use his hand.

Watch a video of Junior using his Robohand for the very first time:

We are very excited to announce that MakerBot is coming to South Africa at the end of March to spend a few days with Richard to document the innovation and design in prototyping with the MakerBot Replicator 2 he was donated.

In the very short two and half months that Richard has had his Makerbot Replicator 2, he has clocked up 179 hours of printing and prototyping time. The Replicator 2 had to have its first service and is already back at work.

This innovative printer brings a new standard in desktop 3D printing. It’s the best desktop 3D printer on the market. With a resolution capability of 100 microns and a massive 410 cubic inch build volume, the MakerBot Replicator™ 2 Desktop 3D Printer is the easiest, fastest, and most affordable tool for making professional quality models.

Visit their website and experience the wonder of 3D printing in a whole new way www.makerbot.com

Below is an exert from their website:

World class additive manufacturing

Professional-quality prototypes. Highly complex models. Attractive pieces of art. With the new MakerBot Replicator™2 Desktop 3D Printer, you can expect these and more. On a 3D printer, quality is often measured by the height of each layer, with smaller layers meaning higher resolution. We’ve dropped the default layer height all the way down to 100 microns, giving you smooth surfaces without any post-production. Make things you’re proud to demo to your boss or show off to your family. Discover the look and feel of the new standard in desktop 3D printing.

Enough room to make it BIG

A new standard in Desktop 3D Printing demands a build volume that’s bigger in all three dimensions. The MakerBot Replicator™2 Desktop 3D Printer has a build volume of 410 cubic inches, so you can think and build bigger than ever. That’s 37% more volume than the original MakerBot Replicator™ Desktop 3D Printer that you can use to make big things or entire multi-part projects at one time. Combined with our speed improvements, you now get much more done in much less time. Finally a desktop 3D printer made for multitasking.

MakerBot PLA Filament

Now you can do your highest quality work and do a favor to the environment, too. We’ve adapted the MakerBot Replicator™2 Desktop 3D Printer to work perfectly with PLA, the renewable bioplastic that sticks to the platform reliably with practically no peeling, curling, sliding or shrinking. With MakerBot PLA Filament you will make professional-quality prototypes and huge pieces with dimensional stability, meaning that what you design is what you get. What’s more, you will use 32% less energy than building with ABS plastic. Find out why MakerBot PLA Filament helps us set a standard in desktop 3D printing

Powder-coated steel chassis

To make the Replicator™2 sturdy and durable enough for high-speed printing, we gave it an industrial strength chassis. The powder-coated steel is also resistant to changes in temperature and humidity, making it adaptable to your work space.

Thank you to the MakerBot team for allowing us this opportunity to put your product through its paces and create ingenious designs to help people with no fingers.

The Robohand ready to make its trip over the sea with the MakerBot Team

As the videographer at MakerBot, I kept coming back to the thought that a video about how Robohand is using their MakerBots would be quite powerful. I presented the idea to my team, got approval, and bought a ticket to Johannesburg.

I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into when I landed in Jo’burg. I’d been Skyping and emailing with Rich for a while by that time and I knew he’d set up time with some of the children using Robohands. But at that point, the trip was mostly fueled by trust and inspiration. I have to admit – my first morning in South Africa was a bit overwhelming. I’d messed up my rental car reservation, my bank had frozen my account, and driving on the left side of the road is way more challenging than I had expected. But when I finally met up with Rich and his lovely wife Beth, all my troubles melted away. They were incredibly warm and friendly and I knew I was in good hands.

On Friday we met with Liam and his family. I shot footage of Liam getting a larger size Robohand and interviewed his mom Yoldandi. On Saturday Dylan came out to Rich’s for his very first Robohand. Seeing the joy on his face the first time he tried on his new mechanical hand and noticing the tears form in his mother’s eyes gave me chills. It was in that moment that I knew that the Robohand story is as precious as I thought it might be – and that I would have the opportunity to share part of that story with the world. On Monday Waldo came with his mom to get a resized Robohand from Rich, and I got the last of the footage for my shot list.

Rich and Beth stuffed gifts into every pocket of my suitcase to bring back to the team at MakerBot, and waved goodbye. I’m back in the States now and can’t stop telling everyone about the wonderful people I met, and the wonderful project they’re working on. I am so honored to be able to take part in sharing this story with the world, and I can’t wait to see what becomes of it.

Go Robohand!

After a busy Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we took Annelise from MakerBot around Johannesburg and showed off a little. We started at the Rosebank Rooftop Market, where there is such a vibrant display of African artistry.

We asked one of the stall owners to please blow a Vuvuzela for Annelise so she could hear that African sound. And then we asked her to imagine 5000 Vuvuzela’s in a stadium and the reverberation that takes place.

We came home for a home cooked meal of Roast Lamb with all the trimmings. We went out for frozen yogurt for desert and then took a stroll around Monte Casino.

All in all it was a fabulous day. Thank you MakerBot for sending Annelise over the pond to SA.

Waldos hand coming for repairs

The last day of the long Easter weekend and Waldo and his mom arrived for his “upgrades” and “adjustments”. Waldo’s first Robohand’s fingers were made slightly smaller and tighter for him to practise his dexterity. His wrist movement has improved dramatically and he has been visiting with Carmen the OT once a week.

Richard reprinted his hand on the MakerBot Rep 2 ready for assembly this morning.

While waiting for the hand assembly to be completed, Waldo was playing on his tablet to pass the time. During discussion with Waldo, he expressed that he is very excited as cricket season starts at school in the next term and he can’t wait to try out for the team with his Robohand.

He has also been practising at home a lot, to pick up things and we have uploaded several video’s to our You Tube account. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnMi2JjodBWItWmE-zdZmBw

Another long day but we are on the home stretch completing the tension of the cords and making the final adjustments.

Happy days. Waldo’s Robohand is complete and looking awesome. Well done Rich for another outstanding achievement. Waldo we hope to hear great things over the coming months.

Dylan arrived at Robohand this morning for the fitting of his Robohand. There have been several discussions with the family and with Dylan before he decided that he would try out the Robohand. Dylan had some reluctance when it came to the functionality and the aesthetics of Robohand. Being twelve and not having had his hand all his life he was a bit hesitant how Robohand could benefit him.

His mom and dad had surprised him a few weeks ago with a visit to Robohand and the possibility of Dylan receiving a hand.  Dylan loves technology but it was a bit of a shock when he was exposed to Robohand. 

However, he is now inspired and ready to receive his Robohand. Here are pics of the hand cap after fitting before being put together.

Dylan has not allowed his handicap (or smiling hand as he calls it) to hold him back. He is an avid Cricketer and Golfer. He made it onto the Shot-put team and is a swimmer, a chess champion and does triathlon. He is starting to learn boxing too which we think is quite an accomplishment.

We will upload all the pictures taken during the day to our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robohand/260864887366912) but here is Dylan seeing how the hand feels with the fingers on. The cords still need to be attached and everything to be cleaned up.

On Dylan’s elbow is a really nasty scar (on his smiling arm) from a climbing (and falling) accident when he was younger and he had to have a pin put in his elbow. A very determined and capable young man he will try everything once.

Once the basic assembly was complete and Dylan tried on his hand, he wasted no time in trying to pick up the ball! I had already turned off the video after Richard and Dylan had discussed what final adjustments need to be made so I did not catch him reaching over and picking up the ball for the first time ever! It was awesome tho’. We made him do it again and posted a second video after this one.

http://youtu.be/snPIItUStS4

We have come to the end of the day and Dylan’s Robohand is complete and fitted. We got some awesome photo’s and video and he and his Dad were already playing catch in the driveway and Dylan caught the ball.

Well done Richard and Dylan!