The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cobb kids’ prosthetic arm will aid Oman girl
Fifth-grade students at Blackwell Elementary School in Cobb County launched a community service project to help another student halfway around the world.
Students in the school’s Robotics, Coding and Community Service club are using a 3D printer to build a prosthetic arm for a student residing in Oman, the Cobb County School District said. The first-grade student and her parents recently visited the school in Marietta and met with club members.
The visit allowed her to test some of the robotic hands previously assembled by club members. Those students later created a prosthetic arm tailored for the girl’s needs.
Though it took a few days for the students to 3D print the parts, the process also included taking special images of the student’s arm, modifications and a practice prosthetic to make sure the device could support her needs.
Blackwell students teamed up with Enabling the Future, a global network of volunteers, to design the arm socket. After the test model was done, the student tried on the prosthetic arm and provided feedback. That input will be used by the students to make a final version of her arm.
Dr. Tom Brown, a STEM lab teacher at Blackwell Elementary School and club adviser, said the arm was too long for the student and that the socket needs to be deeper.
Club members will make the changes and send the girl the robotic arm in the next few weeks. She will use the students’ creation until she is ready to transition to one that will be made by professional prosthetic doctors.
This wasn’t the first time the club rallied around a student in need.
Last year, club members built a prosthetic for a fellow student born without a left hand and forearm, the school district said. The club printed and created an RIT arm, an adaptive device that has an elbow but no wrist.
Brown said the RIT arm wasn’t functional and didn’t fit “quite right” for the student. Over the summer, the students built another arm, and Brown said they hope to have the arm printed and assembled soon.