thank you
store outside huntsville alabama
fourteen years ago amy lost her left
hand in a car accident
today her job's a little easier thanks
to a simple
but unique device derived from nasa
robotics technology
at the marshall space flight center
after her accident amy was fitted with a
standard prosthetic
hook as it's commonly called she founded
strap suspension system cumbersome
putting the prosthesis on is
one of the problems how about operating
your terminal device
moving her right shoulder to operate the
device was painful
and she couldn't do all she needed to
with something that simply
opened and closed and so shortly
thereafter i just put it aside
and um just went back to using
what i had my one hand
the new devices developed for mrs
bradley at nasa marshall
attached to a socket which slides on
easily
she works with this spatula type
attachment around the kitchen
and she's come up with a number of other
applications for the clip
she uses at work i'm able to do things
that
i have not been able to do before and so
they've just given me a little more
self-confidence
they've relieved a lot of pain that i
was having from overusing my right
shoulder
and and of course i can curl my hair
it was jim carden who got nasa started
on this project
an engineer at marshall for 30 years
cardin lost his left hand in his small
lumber business
shortly before he retired when i looked
out there and there was nothing
available but a hook
i said it's it's a sad
case for us amputees cardin talked to
some of his co-workers at marshall
including aerospace engineer pete
belcher designer tommy vest
and john richardson from the technology
utilization office
borrowing from robotics technology they
came up with a number of devices
though simple this bell-shaped
attachment is one of jim carden's
favorites
it lets him crank his fishing reel
something he just couldn't do
with the hook
the project has also produced this heavy
lift design
which cardin uses around his ranch and
lumber business
i think still do the things i want to do
and smile about it
the people at marshall are now working
on a lightweight alternative to the
standard hook for small tasks around the
house
rather than the bulky shoulder harness
it is triggered by the rotation of the
forearm
the simplicity of all these devices not
only makes them easy to use
but inexpensive to produce nasa is now
negotiating with a rehabilitation
facility
to manufacture and market them
nasa's prosthetics project developing
simple economical alternatives from
robotics technology
that meet the demands of individual
lifestyles