Bolivian teen makes his own robotic hand

A Bolivian teen has succeeded in building his own robotic hand with a 3D printer with a mixture of curiosity, passion and hard work, after he discovered the technology by chance when he broke a toy car.

14-year-old Leonardo Viscarra told EFE that "I threw a rock and broke the car" and saw all the pieces it was made of, adding that he was eight when the incident revealed the technology of assembly to him.

Viscarra's right hand was caught in the placenta when he was in his mother's womb, and was unable to develop. He was diagnosed with amniotic band syndrome.

The thermoplastic hand he wears today works with nylon strings that pick up the movements of his wrist and transmit them to fingers which, he admits, are unable to close completely.

It's not perfect, but with it he can "hold a glass or bottle ... a variety of objects that I could not hold before."

Viscarra began by making a very weak artificial hand, a kind of pincers that at least allowed him to grab things before he later made a more mechanised version, but it didn't fit him at all well.

Doing some research, Viscarra said, he learned about a French boy who was the first to have a prosthesis of this kind, then found out about a US foundation that manufactured them.
With the help of an aunt living in the United States, Viscarra contacted the firm and they sent him a first robotic hand, though it was too big.

He didn't give up. He was inspired by that prosthesis "to make another." This time he put it together by himself to his exact measurements.

When he had the design, he went to the Sawers Robotics Institute in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, and there they helped him make it real.

With a 3D printer they printed practically the entire new hand, and with the help of his teachers and parents, Viscarra assembled all the pieces and held them together with nylon threads and cords.

Viscarra got his robotic hand for less than $US100 whereas bionic prostheses on the market can cost $US15,000.

By Irene Escudero EFE