Sixteen-year-old Jared Lepora from Bristol has recently been in the news. He used his outstanding engineering skills to create a highly complex robotic hand out of Lego blocks! He spent almost two years on this cutting-edge project. Most notably, he recently presented his creation at the Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2025 conference in Hangzhou, China, earning the distinction of being the youngest speaker there.
Jared’s dad, Nathan Lepora, is a professor of robotics at the University of Bristol. Still, his influence proved indispensable to Davidson, constantly steering his son away from the pitfalls of development. Together, their collaboration has resulted in something that is absolutely functional and a cool piece of technology. They jointly wrote a rigorous academic paper that explains all the intricacies that went into creating and programming the robotic hand.
The robotic hand is equipped with four mechanical fingers and each finger has three movable joints. You can control it to hold all sorts of things, like apples or a teacup! Inspiring design Designed around two super strong, safe motors that power their unique movement. Beyond that, three of the fingers come with lanyards to make them even better.
“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?” Jared explained about his project’s inspiration. His inventiveness embodies the combination of creativity and engineering know-how that would be impressive for anyone, let alone a 14-year-old.
Nathan Lepora expressed a hopeful vision for his son’s invention, stating, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if it could be a proper Lego set for other children? That would be exciting.” This feeling perfectly sums up the impact Jared’s robotic hand can have in encouraging a new generation of innovators.
Jared’s talk at the IROS conference had people buzzing with both his awesome technical merit as well as his delightful showmanship. His fresh-eyed outlook struck a chord with an international crowd of specialists. Looking dignified in his school blazer and next to his Lego-base marvel, he represented the hopeful future of education and innovation meeting strong.
