Girl scouts create prize-winning prosthetic

While Boy Scouts are busy earning robotics merit badges, a group of Girl Scouts may have earned the admiration — and gratitude — of people who stand to benefit from a prosthetic device they have created. The "Flying Monkeys" team from the Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa Council created the BOB-1 as an affordable yet lightweight and durable aid for people with deformed or missing limbs, an entry in the First Lego League Competition. In a provisional patent application, the group said that their invention "enables the user to hold, grip, stabilize or secure an item they may not have otherwise been able to manipulate." Also, the device is small, comfortable and "minimally apparent" to others, they said in their application. Such a device can help in everyday tasks like writing, coloring, eating, personal grooming or playing, they noted. The "Flying Monkeys" said that they drew inspiration from three-year-old Danielle, who has a congenital limb difference. When they sent the BOB-1 to Danielle in Georgia with a video on how to use it, "Danielle tried it out and spent an afternoon drawing with her right hand." But they eventually created BOB-1.2, a smaller and more stable version of the original device, after learning from Danielle's family that their original design was cracking at the joint. "We have shared our presentation with the Central Iowa Amputee Support Group and Girl Scouts around the USA," the group said. — TJD, GMA News