When VAMK`s exchange students from the mechanical engineering department Alexandru Galben from Romania and Gerard Escriba Montagut from Spain started working on the InMoov project in Technobothnia 3D printing lab it looked a little bit like controlled chaos.
State of the InMoov project in the beginning of January 2016.
There were a lot of things to be learned as neither of the students had previous experience with 3D printing or this kind of open source project in general. Lots of robot parts and some automation had already been done by a previous exchange student group. Still quite many parts had to re-printed as the new printers in Technobothnia 3D printing lab could do better quality than the old ones which had been used in the beginning of the project. Also totally new body parts had to be printed and the main automation part with servo motors and controllers had to be installed to the robot. So much to do!
Just before the First of May celebration the happy exchange students could show their supervisor Dr Toshev and Head of Department Lotta Saarikoski their great achievements with the robot which was now moving its fingers, hands, wrists and arms and had also grown in size since January.
Here is a new member in the worldwide family: TB InMoov robot with the satisfied midwifes Mr Galben and Mr Montagut.
Wanted: new students for development work
In the future new groups of students will be developing the robot further.
- This is a great project as it offers the students lots of learning possibilities in many fields and it is also fun, says Dr Toshev, the “father” of the whole project.
Besides mechanical engineering students project is now looking also for electrical engineers to connect the "nerves" - Arduino boards with the servo motors, and programmers to make gestures and Artificial Intelligence.
- We wish new eager students welcome to join the project, says HOD Lotta Saarikoski from VAMK´s mechanical engineering department.
Happy students and teachers shaking hands with the robot.
What is inMoov Open Source Robot?
The robot project was initiated by Gael Langevin who is a French sculptor and designer. InMoov is his personal project and it was initiated in January 2012 as the first Open Source prosthetic hand and it has lead to projects like Bionico, E-Nable, and many others. InMoov is the first Open Source 3D printed life-size robot. It is replicable on any home 3D printer with a 12x12x12cm area and it is conceived as a development platform for Universities, Laboratories, Hobbyist and Makers. Its concept, based on sharing and community, gives him the honor to be reproduced for countless projects throughout the world.
At VAMK the project was initiated by Dr Rayko Toshev together with VAMKS´s exchange students Noura Ali Matroushi and Maryam Al Kaabi from United Arab Emirates and VAMK`s IB student Venelin Kraev in autumn 2014.
More information about the TB InMoov project:
- Dr Rayko Toshev Vaasa University rayko.toshev@uwasa.fi or
- HOD Lotta Saarikoski VAMK lotta.saarikoski@vamk.fi
InMoov worldwide community map – the only Finnish maker group is in Technobothnia, Vaasa. Learn more about InMoov Open Source robot community here.
Text: Lotta Saarikoski
Photos: Vaiva Stanisauskaite