Abstract
The designing of any powered limb confronts the designer with a mass of interacting variables. Really worthwhile long-term results can only emerge from a systematic attempt to define an overall problem, with subsequent research of its component parts, both in their own right and in relation to the whole. It seems likely that unless this is done the rate of improvement of hardware will gradually diminish.
Mapping out of the various aspects of the problem produces a network which demonstrates the manner in which the variables interact. From this, the most important areas for research can be deduced. The discovery of numerical relationships between the parts is making the design process steadily more precise.
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