British student Jared Lepola, 16, created and assembled a robot hand from Lego blocks. The prototype was presented at the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in China in October.
Please also read
-
federal district
Robotics tournament brings together DF and GO students in Ceci, Taguatinga
-
Special content
The Economist launches robot to automatically trade explosive meme coins
-
health
From robots to spirituality: Doctors suggest the future of neurorehabilitation
-
science
Robot Saw: Japan develops a drone that can trigger and guide lightning
Although the boy was still a teenager, he was named one of the co-authors of the research on the invention. The study was carried out in collaboration with other researchers, including his own father, Nathan Leppola, a professor at the University of Bristol, UK. The results were published as a preprint on arXiv on October 17th.
For this invention, the young man used a Lego robotics kit. The project was inspired by an existing technology called SoftHand-A, a device that uses 3D technology to mimic the shape and function of the human hand. The new product is the “Lego version” of SoftHand-A.
“My aim was to create an educational project that would show children specialized mechanisms in a simple, didactic and understandable way,” emphasizes Lepola in an interview with Popular Science Portal.
How the Lego robot hand works
Lepora initially digitally designed a hand with two motors and four fingers, each with two tendons. According to the teenager, the most complicated part of putting this into practice was wiring the tendons around the rotating finger bearings. This structure allows us to not only bend and extend our fingers to grasp objects, but also flex our joints.
Compared to SoftHand-A, the Lego version fell short in response time, load capacity, pushability, and closing force tests. However, the difference isn’t that big, indicating that the technology is also better.
“Our generation (and the younger generation) is the future of robotics, so it is essential that we understand and have an interest in this field. Making a robot hand with your own hands is a great way to learn about robotics,” praises the young genius.
Follow Health & Science Editors on Instagram to stay up to date on the subject.
About The Author
