With the announcement of Robert Downey, Jr.'s involvement in Marvel's upcoming Civil War storyline, it's safe to say that kids will soon idolize Iron Man more than ever. But while the Marvel hero dukes it out on big screen, maker Pat Starace's newest 3D-printed design for a prosthetic Iron Man hand makes him a real-life Tony Stark-caliber hero."The vision was to create a hand, so that a child can have something that solves a mechanical challenge, is affordable, and mostly looks awesome," Starace writes on his website. His design goals include: "1) It had to look awesome 2) It had to perform awesome 3) Hide all the strings, so nothing distracts from the magic." Starace's project not only gives children the use of a functional prosthetic, but promises "super hero levels of self-esteem" in the process.
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Starace acheives his heroic design in true 'maker' style: the hand incorporates Arduino, Bluetooth, and RFID functionality, seamlessly hidden tensioners for finger control, and working LEDs (for the lasers and thrusters, of course). Based on the demonstration below, the control mechanism is simple, and since 3D printed objects are, by nature, customizable, Starace's design will be able to keep up with the body and mind of a growing Iron Boy or Girl.In the era of cheap, 3D-printed prosthetics, we hope to see more fandoms incorporate these types of designs into their culture. 3D-printed Hand of Sauron, anybody?
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