Building a Motorized Leg Brace for a Three-Legged Dog

Engineer Simone Giertz, a self-proclaimed “inventor and breaker of things” built a handy exoskeleton for her beloved three-legged dog Scraps. Giertz noticed that Scraps was having trouble with the joints of her remaining leg, so she consulted with animal prosthetics expert Dr. Michael Lazaris regarding the best way to help Scraps deal with knee pain. He suggested that she start off with a brace.

I think if she’s three years old and she is starting to show some symptoms of discomfort then I think if you are able to create something like a leg brace that works for her that would be the best next step.

After a few unsuccessful tries, Giertz finally built a motorized exoskeleton for Scraps’ left leg that connects with her smartphone so that she can adjust the torque and track Scrap’s progress with a data output.

You know the thing about having a pet and you just want to help them have their best life but I’m just so grateful that I could at least do this for her. Honestly, …I know that Scraps is very good at saying no to things and she’s not saying no to this leg brace. What’s really cool about the setup is that it actually outputs data so I can collect the data and see how her leg moves over time.