LUKE Arms: DARPA Delivers Bionic Arms for Military Amputees

By Tactical-Life

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is making its advanced LUKE arms available to service members and veterans who have suffered an upper-limb loss.

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The new LUKE arms were manufactured by Mobius Bionics out of Manchester, N.H. under DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics program, Here’s how they work, according to the DARPA press release:

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.

The first two LUKE arms were delivered by Justin Sanchez, Director of DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office, in a ceremony last Thursday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Md.

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Source:: Tactical Life