HIFAIKU - A Prototype Arthritis Assistive Device

Hifaiku is a prototype arthritis multi-tool: a simple handheld device that aims to assist users with multiple everyday tasks.  Designed by NC State students Aditi Gopikrishna, Korban Lundberg, and Varun Saravana Kumar, it functions as an ergonomic pencil grip, a key turner for additional leverage, and mid-size jar opener.  This project was completed as part of NC State's E101 class and presented at the 2026 First-Year Engineering Design Day (FEDD) competition.  

IA note on this design: in the spirit of “people-first” engineering, we've released the print files for Hifaiku to the general public so that it can benefit someone.  Please don't sell this file, prints of it, or variations thereof!  We'd like this to help as many people as possible at low to no cost.  That said, if you have insight on how to improve our protoype and make it more accessible, feel free to create your own version and share it as well!  If our design is something useful for you, please let us know as well: we'd love to hear from you.  

Assembly: the two arms are virtually identical when assembled, so the top-bottom orientation doesn't really matter.  Just slide the central pin through the circular holes and snap the arms together, and use a pencil to properly align the pin with the central grooves for a pencil.  Currently, the pencil hole iis sized for a standard wooden #2 pencil, but can hold a mechanical pencil too.