About

Open-source bionics for everyone

OpenBionics is an open-source initiative that focuses on the development of affordable, light-weight, modular, adaptive robotic and bionic devices that can be easily reproduced using off-the-shelf materials.

The initiative was originally inspired by the Yale Open Hand Project and was supported by the European Commission through the Integrated Project no. 248587, "THE Hand Embodied" (2010–2014), within the FP7-ICT-2009-4-2-1 programme on Cognitive Systems and Robotics.

Since 2019, OpenBionics has collaborated with the New Dexterity research group at the University of Auckland to deliver a new class of open-source, affordable, dexterous bionic devices.

Every device released by the team comes with full hardware files, firmware, and documentation, distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License so that researchers, clinicians, and makers can build, adapt, and redistribute them freely.

Principles

What guides the work

Open-Source

Every design, schematic, and firmware release is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license — free to study, build on, and redistribute.

Affordable

Devices are engineered around accessible components and fabrication methods so that researchers, clinicians, and makers can build them without specialised infrastructure.

Lightweight

Material selection and structural design favour compact, low-mass solutions that are practical for daily wear and laboratory experimentation alike.

Heritage

Past members

The early contributors who helped shape OpenBionics in its founding years.

Agisilaos Zisimatos

Co-Founder

Christoforos Mavrogiannis

Co-Founder

In the press

Selected press

  • Minas Liarokapis interview about OpenBionics
  • 10 finalist projects prove we can save the world
  • OpenBionics Affordable Bionic Hand selected as a Hackaday Prize Semifinalist
  • Hackaday Prize Semifinalist — OpenBionics Affordable Prosthetic Hands
  • Hackaday Prize entry — OpenBionics
  • OpenBionics prosthetic hands — open source, affordable, lightweight, anthropomorphic
  • Hackaday — Prosthetics Projects
  • OpenBionics open-source robotic prosthetic hand can execute 144 different grasps & costs under $200
  • Greek OpenBionics unveils affordable, light-weight 3D-printed bionic hands with 144 grasp movements