3D Printed Robotic Arm Controlled by Bluetooth Headband

      

A Colorado teenager has used 3D printing to create a robotic prosthetic arm that costs less than $500 and is fully functional. At Denver's TedxMileHigh, Easton LaChappelle, 17, demonstrated his robotic arm, and how he constructed it to keep the cost low.

LaChappelle said he came up with the idea for a robotic arm when he was 14, then turned to the Internet to teach himself the engineering and programming skills needed to execute it. When the costs involved in making a full-size arm became too great, LaChappelle looked into 3D printing.

“So, in the end, I built this robotic arm up to the shoulder, which was extremely strong,” LaChappelle said. “It could toss balls to you, it could shake your hand, it could pretty much do anything a human could if you program it correctly."

When I was 17, I was working in a video store and hanging out in the grocery store parking lot. At 17, Easton LaChappelle is busy printing a Bluetooth® enabled 3D robotic prosthetic arm.

LaChappelle had the idea for the arm three years ago. He taught himself the engineering and programming skills needed to create the arm. After meeting a seven year old with an $80,000 prosthetic arm, he made it his mission to keep costs low. That’s where 3D printing and Bluetooth technology come in. The arm costs less than $500 controlled externally with a Bluetooth enabled electroencephalographic headband.