A prosthetic arm made by DARPA will soon be available to the public. The LUKE arm, which was spun out of DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program as the DEKA arm, will be brought to market by Mobius Bionics and offers several new capabilities.
According to a report from Gizmag, the key development here is the way the arm translates electrical signals from the onboard electromyogram (EMG) electrodes. It includes “grip-force” information, which conveys how much pressure is being used to grasp an item, as well as a high degree of movement and control.
The arm includes 10 powered degrees of freedom, including a powered shoulder joint with a range of movement that allows the user to reach behind their back or over their head.
Users can also switch to controlling the hand’s grip through foot-mounted inertial measurement sensors. This 2014 video shows the arm during development at DARPA:
People interested in acquiring a LUKE arm can contact Modius Bionics for more information.
