The LUKE arm is a complete prosthetic arm system.  A full arm including the shoulder, above the elbow, or just the wrist and hand.  It can be controlled by many different inputs due to the modular nature of the design.  It has been updated to include force sensors in the hand to allow for proprioceptive and haptic feedback.

Dean commenting on the history of the LUKE arm project in 2017, at a DARPA event where ten LUKE arms were given to veterans.

I have spent the majority of my time at DEKA working on the LUKE project.  This project by far this has been the most rewarding project I have ever worked on.  My design responsibilities included the design of the Wrist Flex motion, the interface to the hand,  the Wrist Rotate joint, the Forearm and internal battery design, about half of the Humeral Rotator joint and the redesign of the entire Shoulder Abduct and Shoulder flex joints, in addition, I designed the socket interfaces working with prosthetists to create a versatile mounting system.  I assumed the role of lead ME on the project when Chris Evans left DEKA in May 2015, and I still oversee continuing design improvements and testing in that role.

The HAPTIX project is an extension of the LUKE arm project.  Force sensors were added to all of the fingertips, the thumb, the palm, the side and the back of the hand.  These force sensors transmit the data through the standard CAN communications of the arm, to a computer which processes the signals.  These signals are then sent back to the user, stimulating the Radial and Ulnar nerve bundles that used to branch out across their hand.  The stimulation channels are mapped, and correlated to the inputs from the prosthetic hand, restoring a sense of touch.  Additionally, the position sensors in the hand can provide proprioception, the sense of self-movement and body position, allowing the user to feel where the hand is in space. The fingers, thumb and wrist are controlled by sensors in the remaining muscles in the patient's forearm, so when he/she thinks about moving their fingers, the muscles in their forearm contract, and the signal is read, and the hand responds.  In the video below, before we had delivered the actual arm, he is wearing 3D goggles, and the  virtual hand on the screen is moving in space based on the movement of his arm (notice the white spheres on his arm, they provide position feedback to the simulation).   When the virtual hand on the screen "touches" the door, he can feel the sensation from the virtual interference between the fingers and the door.

Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself, has pinned a tweet about the LUKE arm (below)

A detailed video explaining the function of the Haptix arm and interface by University of Utah: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZtGb2gKtCM&t=467s&ab_channel=UtahCOE

Some great articles on Haptix:

• https://magazine.utah.edu/issues/winter-2020/a-new-hope/ 

NPR 7/25/2019

Scientific American 7/24/2019

Washington Post 11/15/2017

Excellent video explaining the use of the Haptix arm here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5LLgvaApQo&feature=youtu.be 

HAPTIX Arm at the White House Demo Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unaNWGzQz6U&ab_channel=ForbesBreakingNews

At the end of the summer, DEKA holds an after-hours BBQ.  I'll usually bring along  a couple of the  compressed air rocket launchers I designed (Air Rocket Works, LLC).  I usually also help out Derek Kane with the water rocket launcher to launch 2 liter bottles.  Only a few rockets were landed on the roof of the 340 building, but it's a fun excuse to get up on the helipad...

My kids and I entered the "Outlaw" class of the 2015 DEKA Pinewood Derby.  I had borrowed the track from my son's boy scout troop, and we added a second track to the end making it 70+ feet long.  Our brushless DC motor powered car (foreground above) reached 50+ MPH by the end of the track.  We would have won the race overall, had we not flown off the track on the first run.

After this project had bounced around DEKA, I was invited to a design review where I offered several ideas to improve the design.  Shortly thereafter, it was added to my duties.  I worked with ID on the fairly challenging modeling geometry (not many straight lines) and turned it into a injection mold-able design.  I also worked with the low cost region molding houses to integrate the etched stainless steel sheets into the molded plastic parts.  Patent here.

This device was designed as a way to protect hemodialysis patients from catastrophic blood loss.  Many hemodialysis machines are designed with a sensitive pressure sensor in the machine that is supposed to be able to register the pressure difference if the venous return line pulls out of the patient.  However, the range at which this alarm activates is sometimes adjustable by the nurse, and can cause nuisance alarms, especially with more restrictive smaller bore needles.  This device grips the tubing in two places and exploits the elasticity of the tube.  If a predetermined tension is exceeded, the two clamped ends of the device move slightly apart, triggering the clamp, and fully blocking the blood flow.  I was the only engineer on this project, start to finish, including testing.  The 510k was approved by the FDA, but the device was never put into production.  Patent here.