CYBORG ARM

FEBRUARY 2025

3D Printed PLA, Chicago Screws, Glove, Sleeve, Magnets, Wire.

DESCRIPTION

​I designed and fabricated this piece for Heartwired, a UNCSA student film. The project called for a character with an arm augmentation; an exoskeleton grafted onto his existing human arm. The primary constraints were comfort (it would be worn by the lead for the entirety of the shoot) and dexterity (the actor still had to be able to pick up objects and perform tasks).

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The arm was designed entirely in fusion with 30 unique components making a total of 59 pieces. Every piece went through multiple iterations in order to ensure that the arm was comfortable for the actor and did not hinder articulation. The arm is held together with 30 chicago screws, 10 magnets, and two velcro straps on the arm bracer. Each of the fifinger armatures are attached to a piston kept taught with elastic on the back of the hand. This allowed full articulation of the fingers as the actor flexed and moved his hand.

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All 59 of the printed pieces had to be sanded, filled, primed, painted, masked, painted again, and then weathered in order to achieve the worn metal finish you see on the final arm. This paint treatment also had to be coordinated with the character's eye piece, which was being designed and constructed by Jason Kinsey, another student.

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I was present on set and was in charge of getting the actor in and out of the arm piece every day. The finger armatures clip comfortably to the tips of the actor's fingers, and if he needed use of his hand between shots, he could easily remove them without having me take the entire arm piece off.