Another Lucky Duck Gets a 3D Printed Prosthetic Leg

Can Ducks Just Be the New 3DP Mascot Already?

Dudley, duck — a waterfowl barely walking. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first (well, second) bionic duck. Dudley will be that duck. Better than he was before. Cuter, stronger, faster.

When Dudley and his family were attacked by chickens, the adorable little duckling sadly lost a brother and was, unfortunately, left monopedal. Dudley may have spirit, and he is clearly a survivor, but he still struggled with his disability. He had an easy enough time getting around in the water, being a duck and all, but getting around on land isn’t as easy and is, presumably, rather painful.

“His leg was badly damaged,” said Doug Nelson, co-owner of the K-9-1-1 Animal Rescue & Services. “And half of it dried up and eventually fell off.” You can see Dudley in action for yourself here

Nelson was determined to help Dudley, so he turned to Terrence Loring, a family friend who was also an engineering student. Nelson asked Loring to come in and see if he could use his expertise to help craft a new leg using 3D printing technology. When Loring started his design firm, 3 Pillar Designs Inc., a few month ago, he probably never imagined that one of his first clients would be a duck. But once he met Dudley in person it didn’t take much convincing for Loring to jump on board.

“It’s easy to dismiss it because it’s just a duck,” said Loring. “But it blew me away, watching this little duckling, he’s in pain but he’s still trying to get around.”

Not only did he spend weeks designing the 3D template for the leg, but he also managed to convince 3D engineering firm Proto3000 to print the leg for free.

“This is the reason to get into engineering,” said Loring, “to do little projects like this. I’m just trying to make this as realistic as possible for the little guy.”

Loring had posted a few pictures of the prototype on his website to show the design progress. He drew on his background in biomedical engineering and watched YouTube videos so he could see how real duck legs worked. Unfortunately, the first leg broke at the hinge, so he went back to the drawing board and tried a second time, this time delivering a working, hinge-less, leg.

Now, I’ve gone ahead and linked the video of Dudley and his new leg for you, but let me warn you, watching him hobble around on his new leg is pretty overwhelmingly adorable. I’m really not sure how much cuter this story could get. Oh, wait, did I not mention that his best friend was a piglet? And that now that he’s mobile he’s got himself a lady friend? No, this is not a Disney movie; this is real life.

“The first thing he started doing was wagging his little butt, and literally, he just started walking. There was no delay for him.”

Thankfully this hasn’t cost Dudley’s owners anything, as both Proto3000 and Loring donated the time, materials and all of their services for free. This was obviously a good learning experience for any new engineer and offered the opportunity to experiment with 3D-printed prostheses in a controlled setting, but I think it also speaks to a greater need; the need to help the innocent when you see them struggle in pain. I doubt I was the only person watching the video of poor Dudley, struggling to get around on dry land, with a sympathetic wince of pain on his face. I can only imagine the impulse to empathize would be even greater in person.

I’ve mentioned before that 3D printing promises us the freedom to print the world around us so as to suit our needs. I don’t know about you, but I find it more than a little reassuring that the needs of an innocent duckling like Dudley will fit into and benefit from that 3D printed future.