Teenager builds advanced robotic hand entirely from Lego pieces (19459000)
A robotic hand with four fingers made from Lego Mindstorms can push, pull, and grip with nearly as much force as the leading 3D-printed hands
by Chris Stokel Walker
Jared Lepora with his robot hand built from Lego Mindstorms pieces
Nathan Lepora
A robot hand built from Lego pieces by a 16-year-old and his father can grab and move objects, displaying similar qualities to a leading robotic hand.
Jared Lepora, a student at Bristol Grammar School, UK, began developing the hand when he was 14 with his father,
Nathan Lepora is a researcher at the University of Bristol.
This device borrows from cutting-edge robotics hands, such as the Pisa/IIT SoftHand. However, it uses only Lego Mindstorms educational kits, which are designed to build programmable robots. Jared says that his dad is a professor of robotics at Bristol University and he liked the designs [of robotic hands]. “It inspired me to make it in an educational format, using Lego.”
Each of the four fingers is driven by two motors and tendons. A differential made of Lego clutch gears links digits to move together until they reach an object and then stop moving. This is similar to the way humans grasp objects.
The Lego hand was able to grasp nine household objects, including a plastic bowl and cup, as well as an 0.8 kilogram soft toy.
One finger on the hand is able to close fully in around 0.84 seconds, and open in about 0.97 seconds. This is half as fast as the 3D-printed version of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand that uses metal bearings. In static tests, the Lego hand’s finger could push 6 newtons and bear 5 newtons, while closing with 1.8 newtons. This compares to the 3D-printed hand which had 8 newtons, 7 newtons and 2 newtons respectively. Nathan says that a Lego hand will never be as capable [as a 3D-printed hand] than a 3D-printed hand. The Lego hand also has a much larger size: Each of the four fingers is 145 millimetres in length and 30 millimetres in width.
Lego Mindstorms was discontinued in 2022. Jared says that the device can be updated using different Lego pieces. “The motors that I used can be easily removed and replaced with newer motors,” he says.
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