PC: HyphenOnline
A self-taught teenager from Birmingham has attracted 2.6 million views on TikTok after building a gesture-controlled robotic hand for about £30. Suleymaan Khan, 17, developed the device using camera recognition and code he wrote himself, with materials including foamboard, card and hot glue.
Hundreds of people have contacted him to learn how to recreate the invention, while students around the world have sought his advice on robotics projects, according to Hyphen. Khan is now working on step-by-step kits to help others build the hand, alongside developing further robotic inventions.
The cost of the project was approximately £30, according to Hyphen. Hyphen reported that he had more than 400,000 likes and 20,000 followers across YouTube and TikTok. The robotic hand alone received 2.6 million views on TikTok.
Because khan developed it using inexpensive, readily available materials rather than relying on costly specialist equipment, the invention has attracted attention.
He told the publication that he was working on putting together step-by-step kits to help people recreate the invention. Khan’s latest robotic hand is fully articulated and controlled through gestures. It uses camera recognition, supported by code that he wrote himself. The project demonstrates how he has progressed from simple homemade constructions to more complex robotic systems. Unlike his early cardboard creations, the hand combines physical components with programming to respond to recognised movements. Foamboard, card and hot glue were among the materials used to construct the hand. Its relatively low cost has prompted hundreds of people to ask Khan how to build a similar device themselves. The planned kits reflect the interest generated by the project and the requests he has received from people wanting to learn how the robotic hand works. Khan’s robotics projects have developed a following on social media, where his work has reached audiences interested in technology and engineering. Alongside this online attention, students from different countries have approached him for help with their own robotics work, including university assignments and projects that they have struggled to complete.
Pepper also earned Khan the 2023 Network Rail national innovation award at the Big Bang Fair, a UK science and engineering competition for young people aged 11 to 18, according to Hyphen. He has since secured an apprenticeship at a local robotics company while continuing to develop his own creations in his spare time. His next project is another humanoid robot that he hopes will incorporate artificial intelligence for speech recognition, object recognition and home mapping. Khan has also expressed an interest in developing prosthetics in the future, identifying their cost as an area he would like to address through his work.