Medical: Robotic Arm Technology for DARPA

HDT Engineered Technologies (HDT), a leader in the development of next generation technologies and a principal subcontractor for the mechanical development of the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL), led development of new anthropromorphic arm technology that will give patients improved, dexterous control of a prosthetic arm and hand, including a sense of touch.

As part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP2009) project, the MPL overcomes the limitations of conventional mechanical prostheses, which are not capable of tactile feeling, have a limited range of motion and are difficult to control.

HDT is a member of a team led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), developing a sophisticated mechanical prosthesis to mimic the sensory-motor capabilities of a natural hand and arm. Now moving into Phase 3 development, the RP2009 technology will provide patients greater functionality and more intuitive, thought-controlled movement of the artificial limb.

"HDT Engineered Technologies is proud to be a part of the DARPA and JHU/APL team," says Dr. Tom Van Doren, vice president of Robotic Systems at HDT Engineered Technologies. "Our mission is to promote human welfare through the advancement of robotic systems, and our technological innovations supporting this project are a step forward in meeting that mission."

In conjunction with partners including Kinea Design, Cielo Solutions, and Van Doren Designs, HDT developed key components of the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL). Those components allow the fingers and opposing thumb to conform to irregularly shaped objects and have tactile (haptic) fingertip sensors enabling patients to sense temperature, textures, pressure and friction. The limb components are modular and allow the fingers and hand to attach to the highly dexterous arm without additional wiring. The new prosthetic arm technology utilizes up to 20 motorized joints, mimicking human arm movements with greater range of motion than current state-of-the-art prosthetic arms.