The project that’s brought LaChappelle into prominence involves a chance meeting he had with a little girl using a prosthetic limb that cost upwards of $80,000, and that got the young engineer and designer thinking. So he built her a prosthetic arm. For a fraction of that sum. For just $400, in fact.
While projects like RoboHand are driving down the cost of needed prosthetic devices, LaChappelle’s arm is an extremely sophisticated take on solving the problem. Over the course of three years and working with online resources and collaborators alongside 3D designer Chris Chappelle, the project ultimately took 2nd place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He and Chappelle launched a successful Kickstarter project for what they called the “Anthromod” robotic arm.
While projects like RoboHand are driving down the cost of needed prosthetic devices, LaChappelle’s arm is an extremely sophisticated take on solving the problem. Over the course of three years and working with online resources and collaborators alongside 3D designer Chris Chappelle, the project ultimately took 2nd place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He and Chappelle launched a successful Kickstarter project for what they called the “Anthromod” robotic arm.
