Wounded veterans test advanced new bionic arm

A cool new robot arm with a sophisticated force-feedback control system is currently being beta-tested by US forces veterans that were wounded in combat operations. The arm is said to be advanced and sensitive enough to allow users to pick up a key or hold a pencil.

The bionic arm is the brainchild of inventor Dean Kamen, best known for inventing the futuristic auto-balancing transport device, the Segway. It comes from his R&D company DEKA Research and is currently being beta-tested by the US Veterans Administration (VA), where it is receiving rave reviews.

A few features make this arm more advanced than existing designs: an intuitive foot-activated controller, force-feedback which gives users an idea of how firmly they are gripping an object, and a greater range of movement, giving users the ability to raise their prosthetic arm right above their head for the first time. The current version is wired between the foot controller and the arm itself but later versions will be wireless and could also work with alternative control systems.

Dr. Joel Kupersmith, VA’s Chief Research and Development Officer, said:

This arm is a high-tech example of how VA researchers are continually modernizing the materials, design, and clinical use of artificial limbs to meet Veterans’ lifestyle and medical needs