Life under Kinetic Evolution (LUKE) Robotic Arm, By Veterans Administration

choi

(1) VA Secretary Shulkin Unveils world's Most Advanced Commercial Prosthesis; Veterans are first to receive the technology. June 30, 2017.
http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/ ... mercial-prosthesis/

Note: Watch the video clip (length: 27'41") from 4'15" to 8'15" only -- the rest of the clip is not about demonstration. This is the only video clip about LUKE that I can find in the Web.

(2) David Gonzalez, For Two Veterans, a Freedom Restored for Independence Day; Reclaiming essential functions with the help of a robotic arm. New York Times, July 3, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/ ... dependence-day.html

Quote:

"Fred Downs and Artie McAuley * * * Both are Army veterans who lost part or all of an arm while in the service. Mr Downs, a platoon leader in Vietnam, lost his left arm just above the elbow when he stepped on a land mine during a firefight in 1968. Mr McAuley was assigned to an ordnance unit in upstate New York when a car accident cost him his left arm and part of the shoulder in 1969.

The two "becom[e] the first two recipient * * * [of a] robotic arm that uses computers, sensors and motors to give back to them the simple, but essential, functions they had lost in their youth. The arm — known as Life Under Kinetic Evolution or LUKE — is the result of an eight-year research project by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (known as Darpa) and private companies. Unlike current prosthetics available for upper limb amputees, the LUKE arm allows for smooth and simultaneous movement using motors at the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand to flex and turn or lift and grip.

My comment: There is no need to read the rest. The field is advancing rapidly.