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  • Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children

    THE LIMBER INVENTOR

    Feb 01, 2019 6 minutes
    by Jennifer Mason
    text © 2019 by Jennifer Mason

    The arm on display dazzles viewers. It consists of 3D-printed plastic pieces with windshield-wiper motors to power its joints and knuckles. Brainwaves from an EEG (electroencephalography) headset control its movement. The user imagines giving a thumbs-up, and the limb obeys, curling the fingers into a fist while sprouting the thumb upwards.

    Wave, pitch a ball, grab and hold—the robotic arm proves very capable.

    THE GRAND PRIZE

    Surprisingly, the arm was not forged in a glimmering laboratory by teams of brilliant scientists with millions of dollars to spend. Sixteen-year-old Easton LaChappelle designed, built, and programmed the invention, now on display at the 2012 Colorado State Science Fair.

    “I actually did this in my bedroom,” he grins.

    The robotic arm won first and third place in different categories. But Easton is too preoccupied at the moment to worry about prizes, medals, and satin ribbons. He is focused on the 7-year-old girl admiring his invention.

    At first, he wonders why she is so deeply fascinated, but then he

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