Teenager invents 3D prosthetics to help friends play instruments

Andrew had always struggled with playing the drums. “I wrapped Scotch tape around it. But you know, scotch tape is not going to last very long", the teen said.

Music classes were challenging for these students, so their music teacher, who heard about the potential of 3D printing, spoke with Brad Fessler, Nicholas’ tech teacher, asking for help.

“I had to get the idea of what to make. But the rest of it was just editing the idea and finding out what works”, the inventor explained.

Nicholas accepted the task, and started working on it, with his teacher’s guidance. The process was concluded over an academic year, and included 3D modeling, printing prototypes, testing and making adjustments, and necessary.

The innovation consists of a versatile sleeve that can fit onto either of the students’ arms and which can itself be fitted with different attachments, depending on what instrument the user is playing.

Everything can be adjustable to the user’s need. “Everything is designed to be interchangeable. They put the prosthesis on, and they can use their other hand to change out the attachments or adjust the fit. It was designed so they can do it themselves”, Fessler observed.

Cassandra and Andrew now can play any instrument easily, wheter it’s a guitar or the drums.

“I've never been able to do this before so it's really cool to be able to experience this," the girl expressed.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/22YaTS3

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