Thinking about artificial extremities is thinking about someone. It is a touch and movement made to use, which is attached to the body and interacts with its user world.
The historical artifacts of the artificial extremities are removed from this living context. Its users went. It is damaged – it deteriorated with time and exposure to the elements. It is without mobility, survival or in storing the museum.
However, such artifacts are rare Direct sources in Life of historical parties. We focus on the tools used in Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. there A small number of written records from an amputated view At that time, those present do not say little about daily life with synthetic.
Engineering historians offer new tools to examine material evidence. This is especially important for studying early mechanical hands, a A new type of artificial technology This appeared at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Most artifacts are of unknown origin. Many partly work only and others are not at all. Their practical functions are still a mystery.
But computer aid design can help scientists rebuild artifacts. Internal mechanisms. This, in turn, helps us to understand how to move the objects once.
Even more exciting, 3D printing allows scientists to create Physical models. Instead of imagining how the Renaissance artificial parties work, scientists can Physical test one. It is a form of investigation that opens new capabilities to explore the development of prosthetic technology and user experience over the centuries. It creates a path of bread crumbs that can bring us closer to the daily experiences of modern waves.
But how does this work, which combines two very different fields, works at work?
The following is a glimpse of our experience in cooperating on A team of historians and engineersIt was narrated through the story of one week. By working together, we shared a model of the sixteenth -century artificial parties with the audience and learned a lesson about humans and technology in this process.
A historian faces a broken model
The historian: On a cloudy day in late March, I entered the Alabama University Center, Birmingham to teach and learn a state of weather resistance and a feeling of excitement. Inside the inclusion of the case foam was a 500 -year -old printed model.
After fifteen minutes, break.
For two years, oh The team of historians and engineers At the University of Oborn, it worked tirelessly to transform the idea-to re-create the vehicle of an artifact in the sixteenth century of Germany into reality. The original artificial iron, Kassel handHe is One of about 35 From the Renaissance known today.
as The early modern historian who studies these artifactsI work with a mechanical engineer, Chad RoseTo find new ways to explore it. Kassel hand is our case study. Our goal is to learn more about the life of the unknown person who used this artifact 500 years ago.
Using 3D printed models, we have done experiments to test the types of activities that the user can perform with. We are as inexpensive Polilactic acid Plastic-to make this fragile artifact within the reach of anyone with a 3D consumer printer. But before sharing our files with the audience, we needed to know how the model was treated when others treated it.
Invitation Guest lecture In our experiences in Birmingham, our opportunity to do so was.
We brought two models. Break the main version arm first in one and then the other. This crane It contains an internal triple panel connected to a thin penis that comes out of the wrist like the trigger. After pressing the fingers in a closed position, pulling the trigger is the only way to edit it. If broken, the fingers become stuck.
I was confusing. During the test, the form raised the simulator of 20 lbs of the chest cover with its fingertips. However, the first time we participated with a public audience, a mechanism that has never been broken in the test.
Was the printing error? Material defect? Damping design?
We have consulted our hands Whisperer: our main student engineer who feels how the model sometimes works.
An engineer becomes his hand
Engineer: I was sitting on my office in Uporne 3D Mechanical Engineering Laboratory When I heard the news.
your A graduate student in mechanical engineering Focusing on additional manufacturing, known as 3D printing, I explore how this technology is used to rebuild historical mechanisms. For the two years I worked in this project, I got to know the Kassel Hand Model model well. While setting the designs, I created and edited them Computer help design Files – 3D digital constructions for the form – printing and assembling its parts countless times.
Midassamply parts examination is a decisive checkpoint for our initial models. this quality control Holds, corrects and prevents any defects, such as wrong or damaged parts. It is important to create consistent and repeated experiences. Issuing a new model or changing the component never leaves the laboratory without passing a strict examination. This process means that there are methods that this model has not been behaved over time. But I have.
So when I heard that the release lever was broken in Birmingham, it was just another Thursday. Although he was unprecedented when we tested the model on people, I saw that it was breaking many times while making checks on the ingredients.
After all, the model consists of a relatively weak polylactic acid. Perhaps the most difficult part of our work is to make a solid plastic model as possible while keeping it visually consistent with the 500 -year -old asset. the Iron bar Subordinate Racket More power can be dealt with Plastic versionAt least five times The power of the return.
I thought the crane was picked up because people pulled the trigger very far and very quickly. The challenge, then, was to prevent it. But the redesign of the lever to be thicker or different shape would make it less like a historical artifact.
This question raised: Why can I use the model without breaking the crane, but no one can?
The team sets a plan
Team: A discussion wave increased consensus – the essence of the issue was not the model, it was the user.
The original wearer of Hand Castle had learned to use the artificial through training. Likewise, our team learned to use the model over time. Through the design, development, preliminary models, and printing process, we were unintentionally practicing how to run it.
We needed to teach others to do the same. This called for a two -part approach.
The engineers re -examined the hole through which the release of the version was removed from the form. They suggested that it be shortened to reduce the extent that users can withdraw. When we examined how this change would affect the accuracy of the model, we found that a smaller opening was actually closer to the dimensions of artifacts. Although the largest opening was necessary for a previous version of the release arm that needed to travel further, it only only caused problems. Engineers got the work.
Meanwhile, historians have devised plans to document and share various technologies to operate the model that the team did not realize. To teach someone at home how to run their own version, we photographed a Short video Explain how to lock and release fingers, explore and fix errors when a finger sticks.
Plan test
Exactly one week after what we called “The Birmingham Break”, we shared the model with a public audience again. This time we have visited the history of a colleague in Oporn.
We brought four copies. Each had an insertion to shorten the hole around the trigger. First, we played the new educational video on a display. Then we turned the models to the students to try.
The result? No one lever is broken. we I released publicly The project is on the specified date.
The process of introducing Kassel’s hand model for the public highlights that as the trustees in the sixteenth century that wearing this artifact were to learn to use it, one must learn to use the printed three -dimensional model as well.
It is a strong reminder that technology is not just a matter of mechanisms and design. It is essential about people – and how people use it.
This article has been republished from ConversationAn independent, non -profit news organization brings you facts and trusted analysis to help you understand our complex world. Written by: Heidi Husiand Oborn University and Bidin Jonesand Oborn University
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Heidi House has received funding from Herzog August in Belutheek; Consortium for the history of science, technology and medicine; The American Council of Communities learned; Huntington Library, College Fellowship Association at the University of Colombia; And the American Renaissance Association.
Peden Jones received funding from the American Renaissance Association.
