The teens from West Hawaii Explorations Academy had a mission that reached beyond competing in the FIRST robotics tournament in Honolulu that ended Saturday.
Their goal was to personally deliver a new "hand" to a 3-year-old girl whom they had never met, a turquoise superhero-style device that will allow her to grip and grasp.
The high school students had labored for weeks over the gift, fashioning parts on their 3-D printer, then perfecting one model after another at their charter school campus in Kona on Hawaii island.
"I’m big on 3-D printing — it’s what I really like to do," said Tommy Furneisen, a 16-year-old sophomore, on a break between competition rounds at the Stan Sheriff Center. "It’s nice to take something that you love and help somebody else in a way that will change their life, in a way that makes you feel good. It’s awesome."
Amid the amplified hype of the three-day regional tournament, which drew teams from as far as Australia, the teens in the Shark Bots pit got a quiet visit from little Teihani Lei Melendez and her mom.
The Makakilo girl was born with syndactyly — a condition in which fingers are fused together. The prosthetic tool will help her pick things up, ride a bike and perhaps throw a ball. While it is only strong enough to hold just a couple of pounds, and its fingers can’t move separately, it is opening new horizons for Teihani.
Her mother, Moana Melendez, said she’s thrilled with what the students have accomplished.
"I feel super blessed and so thankful for these kids," she said. "They’re changing people’s lives, and it’s amazing that they’re so unselfish and so smart."
Each high school team had created its own robot to compete in lifting and stacking containers at the tournament. The academy’s homemade printer, brought along just for demonstration purposes, was kept busy printing tiny souvenirs to share with other competitors.
The genesis of the prosthetic project dates back to the last school year, when WHEA student Riley Tsunoda built a 3-D printer from scratch as his senior project. He and his fellow students used it to make pieces for their robot, and then were casting about for other ways to use their skills, according to robotics teacher Liana White.
One student came across a website for e-NABLE, a global community of volunteers who create free 3-D-printed devices for people who are missing fingers or forearms. The online clearinghouse provides a how-to guide for construction and connects makers with clients.
"It’s been a huge thing for the kids," White said. "This little corner of the robotics world is taking them into the greater world."
Children are not often fitted with traditional medical prostheses because they tend to quickly outgrow the expensive artificial body parts. E-NABLE’s tools cost little to build and are made available free.
The cost of materials for the "Raptor Hand," the design chosen for Teihani, was about $50, White said. A professionally constructed muscle-actuated hand can cost between $6,000 and $10,000.
Ken Mandler, an orthotics and prosthetics manager at Shriners Hospital on Oahu, sees the 3-D prosthetic as a viable option for children.
"I think for small children it’s great," he said. "It’s really exciting for them to be able to pick out their own design for these hands."
The students downloaded a computer-aided design from e-NABLE’s website, then fashioned the parts with their homemade printer as well as a more precise Ultimaker 2 model they bought with grant money from The Bill Healy Foundation.
The 3-D printers lay down thin, precise lines of molten plastic, like a glue gun in the hands of a robot, layer upon layer. The layers cool and harden into specific shapes, "printing" a three-dimensional object.
The sections of the hand were made from a plant-based thermoplastic. Although the pieces are stiff, they gain flexibility as elastic lines and threads are attached inside the device’s palm and fingers.
"These are arranged like pulleys so that wrist and hand motions can result in grasping and gripping movements," said Curtis Muraoka, co-director of the academy.
When Teihani bends her wrist, the fingers on the device curl inward.
The students made several models along the way. They had to go back and forth with photos and measurements to match her wrist and palm.
"From an educational perspective this is quite a big deal — high school students not only building a printer from scratch, but also using it to help fill a big social need," Muraoka said. "It’s an important pedagogical message that kids can do amazing things when adults get out of the way."
The academy specializes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Teachers help guide its 250 students through hands-on learning, from classifying deep-sea creatures to creating their own underwater vehicle.
The students involved in robotics, which is part of the curriculum, already have their next client lined up: a 4-year-old Montana girl whose arm ends right below the elbow. They are looking forward to the high-tech challenge.
"I love that I can create something that helps somebody and improves their life," said sophomore Naia North.
North knew early in her academic career that she wanted to end up at the academy, which educates students in sixth through 12th grade. She was a second-grader when she first visited and was enchanted.
About 1,500 elementary students a year tour the nationally recognized laboratory school and get a quick immersion in fields from reef ecology to robotics.
"As soon as I set foot on the campus, I knew that I wanted to go there," North said. "I want to just innovate things and change the world. The process — the design, the build — I love all of it."
On Friday, at the tournament, the academy won an entrepreneurship award.
