High school senior builds smartphone-controlled prosthetic hand using 3D printing

Carlos Alejo Flores, a senior student at Baldwin Preparatory Academy, built a wireless-controlled prosthetic hand prototype using 3D printing, Gulf Coast Media reported. Flores, who is in the school's Health Sciences pathway, created the functional device using a 3D printer, an ESP32 microcontroller, and a smartphone application to manage movements. [1]

According to Gulf Coast Media, the project began during the summer before Flores' junior year. The initiative was inspired by a chance encounter at his church with a man who had undergone a below-the-knee amputation. Flores then combined computer programming, health sciences, and 3D printing techniques to construct the working prosthetic prototype. [1]

As HEROIC BREAKING NEWS reported earlier, students and researchers continue to advance low-cost prosthetic technologies. Fourteen-year-old Easton LaChappelle previously built a robotic hand for three hundred dollars using basic household materials and 3D printing, later founding Unlimited Tomorrow to produce affordable prosthetics. [4]