ST. CLOUD, Minn. (February 15, 2018) – BIODAPT PRODUCED PROSTHETICS USED BY MORE THAN 20 PARALYMPIANS IN THE 2018 WINTER PARALYMPICS IN PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA
Software-enabled smart manufacturing company, Plethora, expanded their CNC machining offerings and capabilities with a Matsuura MX-520 5-axis vertical machining center, which has been utilized to machine joints for prosthetic legs for amputee athletes.
One of Plethora’s first projects on their newly installed Matsuura MX-520 was for BioDapt Performance Prosthetics and Adaptive Equipment in St. Cloud, MN. BioDapt designs, manufactures and distributes high performance lower limb prosthetic components used for action sports and other similar activities. Their goal is to manufacture the highest quality and highly versatile components that allow amputees to participate in sports and activities. This equipment can be, and is used by many elite adaptive athletes at the highest level of competition as well as the average person who just wants to get out and be active doing the sports and activities they enjoy.
Plethora machined joints for prosthetic legs for amputee athletes on the Matsuura MX-520. The components may be seen at the end of this post.
The Moto Knee and Versa Foot was created by Mike Schultz, a professional snowmobile racer that lost his leg above the knee in 2008, due to an injury while racing.
“I wanted to get back to doing the activities I loved (mainly motocross and snowmobile racing), but I soon found out there was nothing that would really allow me to ride the way I did before my amputation. With my knowledge and experience of fabrication, the experience of tuning suspension on my race equipment and my unwillingness to compromise I set out to create what I needed. After nearly two years of development I have come up with a knee unit that is versatile enough to handle many different action sports and has helped me win multiple ESPN X Games medals in the adaptive motocross and snow cross events. In my many years of racing as a professional I’ve learned it takes a few key components to be successful; support from the people around you, a whole lot of determination and the right tools for the job,” said Mike Schultz, owner of BioDapt.
After Mike competed at his first adaptive sporting event he soon realized that many other amputees could benefit from the equipment he was working on. A year and half later in 2010, he started his new company called BioDapt.
Mike Schultz has attained quite a list of things he never expected to see or do in his life. The most recent accomplishments include qualifying to compete in the 2018 Winter Paralympics and finding out that a photo of him would adorn boxes of Frosted Flakes.
Schultz is a 36-year-old Kimball Area High School graduate who lives in St. Cloud. He will begin being on cereal boxes for Kellogg’s soon.
“You know you’ve made it to the big time when you’re on a cereal box,” Schultz said with a laugh.
But he is not laughing when he talks about what it will mean to represent Team USA for the Winter Paralympics, which will take place March 8-18 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“To be able to wear your country’s colors and compete in the Paralympics for the snowboard team … it’s pretty powerful,” Schultz said.
He was named the Team USA Male Athlete of the Month for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes for November, the St. Cloud Times reported.
Schultz’s story has plenty of triumph, but there have been some tough defeats and obstacles to overcome to get to where he is. He suffered a left leg injury in an International Series of Champions National Snocross snowmobiling race in 2008 that was so severe his leg had to be amputated above his knee to save his life.
“I bought my first dirt bike when I was 12, and I started racing motocross when I was 15 and started getting pretty successful,” he said. “Then I started racing snowmobiles at 17 and decided I wanted to focus on that and see if I can make a career at it.”
He signed his first pro snocross contract in 2003.
Then on Dec. 13, 2008, everything changed. In a competition at a snocross event in Ironwood, Michigan, he got thrown off his snowmobile and crashed to the ground.
“I got bucked off my snowmobile and landed and had a compound fracture to my leg and shattered my knee,” Schultz said. “It was extremely bad. I severed a main artery and I was bleeding on the race track.”
“I was awake, but I wish I wasn’t,” Mike said. “It was extremely painful. I lost an enormous amount of blood, and it’s amazing that I didn’t pass out. Over the next three days, they did what they could to save my leg. But there were major complications with nerve damage and my kidneys started to shut down.
“At that point, they notified my family that they had to amputate my leg in order to save my life.”
“They explained to me that it was my leg or my life, so it was kind of an easy choice,” Mike said. “
Schultz then got busy finding a way to get back to competing in motor sports. Before turning pro as a racer, he grew up on a farm and had spent time working in metal fabrication and in a motor sports dealership.
His background helped him come up with an idea to get back to competing in motocross and snocross. He designed his own prosthetic.
“I had a conventional prosthetic, but that wouldn’t work with motocross and snowmobiles,” he said. “Me, being the person I am and being mechanical, I decided to build myself a new leg to do all this. With my past experience in mechanical engineering and with suspension for dirt bikes, I came up with one.
“There were two sides to working on it. One was trying to build something that would work. The other part was it was a really productive goal to work on during a really tough time and to get excited about what lies ahead. At the end of early April (2009), I had the first prototype.”
It turned into a business for Schultz, who, along with Sara, run BioDapt, which produces performance prosthetics and adaptive equipment.
Seven months after he lost the lower part of his left leg, Schultz was back competing and won a silver medal in an adaptive supercross event in Los Angeles.
As word about his business continued to grow, Schultz was asked by potential clients to see if he could make a prosthetic that would help someone snowboard.
“I had a couple customers who were veterans who wanted to get back into snowboarding,” Mike said. “I had done zero snowboarding. I had wakeboarded a few times with some friends.
“But I started hanging out and working with the adaptive snowboard program to develop equipment and I got pretty good at riding. In 2012, I started racing. Two years after I started snowboarding, I was doing really well.”
He was doing some snowboarding in Colorado when he caught the eye of the Team USA adaptive snowboarding coach. After the 2014 Winter Paralympics, he accepted an invitation to compete in a World Para Snowboard event.
“I won a couple of World Cup races and thought, ‘This is pretty cool,’” he said. “Being on the US Para Snowboard team and wearing your country’s uniform is pretty powerful.”
He decided that his next goal was to compete in the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea
BioDapt has prosthetics that are being used by “more than 20” Paralympians, which is one more thing that Mike has pride in.
“One of my most rewarding things is providing equipment for my teammates and other athletes around the world to be more active and to participate in sports,” he said. “Winning medals is big.
“But when I get all this positive feedback on how happy they are to be participating in sports again, that goes much deeper.”
Some information from: St. Cloud Times, https://www.sctimes.com
SOFTWARE-ENABLED SMART MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLETHORA RECENTLY EXPANDED THEIR CNC MACHINING OFFERINGS AND ADDITIONAL CAPABILITIES INCLUDING A MATSUURA MX-520 5-AXIS VERTICAL MACHINING CENTER
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. —Located in San Francisco, Plethora revolutionizes the way a traditional factory works by automating conventional manufacturing processes to produce high-quality machined parts with rapid turnaround times. Plethora’s first of its kind software offers immediate design feedback and pricing which simplifies and shortens the ordering process and can eliminate weeks out of the engineering schedule.
Plethora’s automated factory now offers CNC milling and turning in 23 materials, including aluminum and copper alloys, plastics, steels and stainless steels. Their machining services support 3-axis and 5-axis-indexed machining, accommodating approach vectors for complex geometry from any angle.
Plethora recently expanded their CNC machining capabilities to offer increased services in new materials and capabilities including the purchase of a Matsuura MX-520 5-Axis Vertical Machining Center.
“The hand built, enormously accurate Matsuura MX-520 is an exceptional choice for such a groundbreaking company as Plethora. We are honored to be a part of their revolutionary business model where they inspire customers who need fast, reliable, precision parts production,” said a Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. Spokesperson.
With high-precision, performance, speed, accuracy and reliability, the MX-520 provides flexibility and versatility allowing full 5-axis functionality without multiple setups.
The Matsuura MX-520 maintains high rigidity, provides a generous machining envelope and large working area while possessing a compact design and narrow footprint. The MX-520 also offers an assortment of configurations allowing rapid set-up and processing of complex parts.
“We bought the Matsuura MX-520 to support the growing demand for higher complexity parts, where tighter tolerances need to be held and a better surface finish is needed,” explained Plethora’s Senior Prototype Machinist Michael von Sothen.
CAMplete TruePath software – an integrated suite of G-code editing, optimization, analysis, and verification tools is standard on every Matsuura MX-520.
“With the addition of the Matsuura MX-520 and CAMplete software we have been able to run multiple parts at a time with simultaneous 5 axis toolpaths and have the confidence to run the programs without collisions,” said von Sothen.
“This increases our productivity by keeping the doors shut and the spindle running for longer periods of time,” von Sothen added.
The MX-520 5-Axis Vertical Machining is one of the most sought-after machining centers having all the expected qualities and features of a Matsuura machine, but with a very competitive price tag.
Plethora’s local Matsuura Machinery USA Distributor is Selway Machine Tool. Selway Machine Tool is the exclusive distributor of Matsuura products on the West Coast, offering a wide variety of manufacturing solutions including: machine tools, accessories, automation, service and application support.
Plethora has been exceptionally pleased with Selway Machine Tools.
“We purchased the Matsuura MX-520 from Selway and their applications engineers came on site for hands-on training with the machine and CAMplete software. The training covered everything we needed to get up and running customer parts on the first day with confidence, and all of the questions and roadblocks I’ve encountered since then have been addressed with urgency by Selway’s application engineers,” von Sothen explained.
MORE ABOUT PLETHORA:
Plethora’s software is the first of its kind to provide instant feedback and connect users directly to a factory. The CAD add-in works directly within Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks and NX and as a web-app platform giving instant pricing and manufacturing feedback to anyone with a CAD model. Plethora’s custom automation software automatically converts 3D files and specs into the code needed to machine the parts inside the company’s state of the art factory. Plethora controls every step of the process to guarantee that the customer’s parts are machined to their exact specifications and shipped on-time.
“We start with the design software: our CAD Add-in analyzes your model for manufacturability and price. This avoids the usual back-and-forth of quoting and feedback – letting you focus on making parts, not managing your suppliers,” said Plethora’s Product Line Manager, Natalie Klapper.
After the order is placed, the customer’s design files enter the Plethora Production System where their automated software converts them into the instructions the factory uses to produce and inspect the part. The company is committed to a “full stack” approach, considering it is the only way to truly transform the production process into an on-demand system of creation.
Transparency and quality customer service are important to Plethora and their processes keep customers up-to-date on the progress of their parts.
Plethora founders Jeremy Herrman, 30, and Nick Pinkston, 33, met in 2008 when they bonded of a shared love of tinkering and a mutual fascination with the 3D printing industry. The two heard the same complaint repeatedly: it was challenging for hardware entrepreneurs to find manufacturers willing to take on their projects.
In 2014, the two launched Plethora – a fully vertically integrated factory in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco, which they filled with advanced 3D printers, robots and traditional milling machines.
According to Hermann, he believes the industry has not changed much in 100 years.
“I feel like that visceral sense of holding what you build in your hand is a very strong emotion,” Hermann explained.
Plethora’s vision has brought in funding from Google Ventures, Founders Fund and others that hope to change the way manufacturing is done.
Learn more about Plethora at: plethora.com.
“At Matsuura, we understand quality customer service. The late Toshio Matsuura founded Matsuura Machinery in 1935 and his philosophy was simple: ‘Our entire company is a showroom.’ We maintain his promise to our customers today. Our continued success is based on our exceptionally skilled workforce, offering traditional craftsmanship combined with state-of-the-art engineering principles and our total commitment to excellence in product design, innovation and manufacturing. From Fukui City, Japan to St. Paul, MN, to the world, we honor Mr. Matsuura’s commitment to innovation, technical excellence and superb customer service,” the Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. Spokesperson added.
MORE ABOUT BIODAPT:
The Moto Knee and Versa Foot was created by Mike Schultz, a professional snowmobile racer that lost his leg above the knee in 2008, due to an injury while racing.
“I wanted to get back to doing the activities I loved (mainly motocross and snowmobile racing), but I soon found out there was nothing that would really allow me to ride the way I did before my amputation. With my knowledge and experience of fabrication, the experience of tuning suspension on my race equipment and my unwillingness to compromise I set out to create what I needed. After nearly two years of development I have come up with a knee unit that is versatile enough to handle many different action sports and has helped me win multiple ESPN X Games medals in the adaptive motocross and snow cross events. In my many years of racing as a professional I’ve learned it takes a few key components to be successful; support from the people around you, a whole lot of determination and the right tools for the job,” said Mike Schultz, owner of BioDapt.
After Mike competed at his first adaptive sporting event he soon realized that many other amputees could benefit from the equipment he was working on. A year and half later in 2010, he started his new company called BioDapt.
Learn more about BioDapt at: biodaptinc.com
MORE ABOUT CAMPlete Solutions:
CAMplete Solutions Inc. is a technology driven company located in Ontario’s Waterloo Region – the heart of Canada’s Technology Triangle. With close to 20 years of experience in 5-Axis machining and machine simulation, CAMplete is committed to developing products that allow manufacturers to meet the needs of today and the challenges of tomorrow.
CAMplete came to life when they saw people struggling with their CAM systems and knew that they could help. They saw the communication breakdown between their CAD/CAM and their machine, and envisioned a software product specifically designed to bridge that gap. CAMPlete offers four products to solve customers problems, including, CAMplete Truepath, CAMplete Truepath Lite, CAMplete Turnmill, and Intelligent Protection system(IPS). CAMplete software is designed specifically for Customer’s machines, as opposed to a generic solution.
Learn more about CAMPlete and Matsuura at: https://camplete.com/machine-partners/Matsuura-cnc-post-processing-simulation-optimization/
MORE ABOUT SELWAY MACHINE TOOL:
Selway Machine Tool was founded in 1963 by Roy Selway. The company began representing Matsuura products in 1978. Many of the Matsuura 5-axis machining centers sold by Selway Machine Tool are producing parts for the Aerospace, Medical and Semi-conductor industries. The company continues to expand its operations, functioning in the same performance driven environments as its customers, focusing on providing value added products and services.
Selway Machine Tool sold the first Matsuura Horizontal with Multi-pallet System in the U.S., and has installed thousands of Matsuura Machining Centers on the West Coast.
Learn more about Selway Machine Tool at: https://www.selwaytool.com/
MORE ABOUT MATSUURA MACHINERY USA:
Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc., located in St. Paul, MN is the U.S. subsidiary of Matsuura Machinery Corporation in Japan. Since 1935, Matsuura has delivered unmatched excellence in high speed and high precision CNC machine tools. From full 5-axis, vertical, horizontal, linear motor or multi-tasking CNC machine tools, Matsuura has been the forerunner in designing innovative technology and manufacturing solutions to a variety of industries around the globe. Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. provides the service, applications, and technical field support that have always been the Matsuura standard for business.
Matsuura’s global customer base demands high speed, high accuracy and reliability with unrivaled technical, applications and service support. Matsuura’s dedication and commitment to the research and development of unique products incorporating the latest emerging technologies is the foundation of the company’s status as a technology leader.
For more information on Matsuura products, contact: [email protected] or visit: www.matsuurausa.com.
Thank you to: Katie Hoban, Plethora’s Content Writer; Natalie Klapper, Product Line Manager; and Michael von Sothen, Sr. Prototype Machinist for their contributions.
