Sixteen-year-old Jared Lepora from Bristol recently gained national attention for his record-breaking undertaking in the field of robotics. He spent almost two years on the effort. All of this has led him to the successful creation of a blank-canvas, full-function robotic hand made completely from Lego bricks. This pioneering device features four fingers. Each finger has three joints, allowing it to grasp a wide range of objects such as apples and teacups.
Jared’s inspiration for the project stems from his father’s expertise. To make Jared, Nathan Lepora, a professor of robotics at the University of Bristol, helped guide Jared through the creation process. The robotic hand is powered by two motors that control tendons in a way that reproduces the natural movement of a human hand. To further expand their versatility, all three of the digits even feature built-in lanyards.
This collective work led to their joint presentation at the Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2025 conference in Hangzhou, China. In addition to presenting his invention, Jared became the youngest presenter in the event’s history. With his dad’s encouragement and guidance, he co-wrote an academic paper explaining the design and working principles of the robotic hand.
“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, highlighting his motivation behind the project.
Nathan Lepora built again on his optimism about what their creation would inspire. Now, picture if it were to be developed as a real-life Lego kit for other kids! That would be extremely exciting,” he said. This vision, of course, speaks to their dream to spark other aspiring young inventors to dive into the world of robotics using readily-available materials.
Jared’s creative approach was a clear display of technical competence but outside-the-box creativity to the problem. One man has already gone far to inspire kids like him by using Lego. This fun teaching resource ignited his passion for robotics and inspired others in his community to get involved.
