DARPA Provides Mobius Bionics LUKE Arms to Walter Reed
From: ECN Magazine - 12/23/2016

The holiday season is bringing high-tech offerings for US war veterans this
year in the form of sophisticated bionic arms developed under the direction
of DARPA. In a ceremony today at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
(WRNMMC) in Bethesda, MD, Justin Sanchez, Director of DARPA's Biological
Technologies Office, delivered the first two advanced “LUKE” arms from a new
production line - shiny evidence that the fast-track DARPA research effort has
completed its transition into a commercial enterprise. As part of that
transition process, DARPA is collaborating with WRNMMC to make the advanced
prostheses available to service members and veterans who are rehabilitating
after suffering upper-limb loss.

The limbs are being manufactured by Mobius Bionics LLC of Manchester, NH, a
company created to market the technology developed by DEKA Integrated
Solutions Corp., also of Manchester, under DARPA’s Revolutionizing
Prosthetics program. The prosthetic system - “LUKE” stands for Life Under
Kinetic Evolution, but is also a passing reference to the limb with which
Luke Skywalker was endowed in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes
Back - enables extremely dexterous arm and hand movement with grip force
feedback through a simple, intuitive control system. The modular,
battery-powered limb is of near-natural size and weight. It features a hand
that has six user-selectable grips and an arm that allows for simultaneous
control of multiple joints using a variety of inputs, including wireless
signals generated by innovative sensors worn on the user’s feet.

Read the entire aricle and view a video (2:23) at:
https://www.ecnmag.com/news/2016/12/darpa-provides-mobius-bionics-luke-arms-walter-reed

Links:
Justin Sanchez
http://www.darpa.mil/staff/dr-justin-sanchez

Revolutionizing Prosthetics
http://www.darpa.mil/program/revolutionizing-prosthetics