It’s the masterpiece of one 16-year-old kid from Bristol, Jared Lepora, that has really set the robotics community abuzz. He invented this high-tech technological hand out of Lego! Lepora spent two years creating his unusual project. At the Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2025 conference in Hangzhou, China, he introduced his new invention and became the youngest speaker in IROS history.
The robotic hand has four self-configuring fingers. Each finger’s three joints allow it to perform any task a human hand can. Two motors, each with the power of a dog’s bite, move the prosthetic hand. It utilizes simple yet powerful tendons to grasp everything from pears to mugs. The elder Lepora, Nathan Lepora, is a professor of robotics at the University of Bristol, and he joined son Jared in this collaborative project. Together, they created a revolutionary hand and co-authored an academic paper detailing their findings.
Jared’s journey into robotics was inspired by his father’s expertise. He expressed his motivation for the project by saying, “My dad specializes in making advanced robot hands and I thought these principles were always really cool, so why not make it out of Lego?” This innovative strategy has served to showcase Jared’s impressive creativity and show the potential for robotics educational tools.
Accompanied by his father and notable figures in robotics such as inventor Ken Goldberg and Professor Antonio Bicchi, Jared confidently presented his work at the conference. With his school blazer, an outward sign of his youth and commitment to learning, donned and sitting next to his Lego masterpiece.
For the moment, Nathan Lepora is happy about the Collaborative’s future. More broadly, he hopes the Lego hand will inspire the next generation of builders. He said, “What if it turned into an actual Lego set that other kids could get? That would be awesome! This vision dovetails with the increasing movement towards intersection of play and learning—especially in STEM related fields.
Attending a robotics convention prior to the conference, Jared showcased his enthusiasm for technology while wearing a black top and a convention white lanyard. His hardships, tenacity and ultimate success in developing a 21st century prosthetic robotic hand has garnered worldwide media attention. This innovation lays the groundwork for more robotics education exploration, sparking imagination in future creators.
