In
his basement, son designs prosthetic arm for father in
Belarus
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[October 19, 2016]
By Andrei Makhovsky
MINSK (Reuters) - Sergei Galtsev, a Soviet
army captain at the time, lost his right arm in an explosion on a
military firing range when his son, Oleg, was four years old.
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Almost three decades later the 53-year-old Belarussian became the
first tester of a prosthetic arm designed and made by his own son in
the basement of his apartment building.
"We wanted to create a simple and affordable prosthesis," said Oleg,
a 32-year-old software engineer.
Two years ago he teamed up with engineer Sergei Arefyev to develop
an artificial arm. The video of its final tests hit almost a million
views on YouTube, with the partners making all the designs and
software available on the internet for free.
"We did not patent it as it made more sense to spend money on
development," Oleg said.
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"It's like Lego, designed for people who are not at ease with
electronics: just put the parts together. If I managed it, then
others can do it, too."
In a country better known for its Soviet-era collectivized farming
and run by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994, the software
industry is thriving. Belarus's 54 universities turn out 4,000
software engineers every year.
The prosthetic arm was created in a small workshop in the basement
of a residential building in Minsk. Some parts were created using a
3D-printer, some were bought on the internet.
Galtsev and Arefyev say their design is 10 times cheaper than
$15,000 mechanical prostheses from big manufacturers, although it
lacks sensor controls.
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Sergei Galtsev says his world was turned upside down by the accident
which befell him when he was 26. It ended his military career and he
took his wife and two children back to the home town of Chechersk in
what is now Belarus.
His new arm has brought new possibilities within reach.
"It is a very good thing, and it can help so many people," he said
after testing the device at his house in the country.
"I sawed wood, mowed the lawn, did some other work around house".
(Editing by Alexei Kalmykov/Richard Balmforth)
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