On June 30, 2004 a wider audience was introduced to a great super-villain: Dr. Octopus. A man with 4 extra robotic arms, bringing him to a total of 8 limbs. He can lift very heavy things, like building supplies.

One 19-year-old millionaire named Erik Finman was a fan of all things Spider-man and decided to bring this science fiction into science fact.

The arms were developed by a team of engineers and were fabricated using a 3-D printer. The arms are controlled by microcontrollers and 8 motors on the user’s back. The arms are controlled using the middle fingers on each hand which are mounted onto a glove.

While the young millionaire appreciates the project, it wasn’t created for him to become a supervillain. It was created to help a disabled 10-year-old boy regain some mobility and strength. While the boy can’t use them on a day-to-day basis, he did say that they made him very popular at school.

Right now, the technology remains very experimental and in the developmental phase. One day, Finman hopes that these can be used for greater practical purposes, and is considering making them open source so they can be improved upon by others.

Eric Cawley is an occasional blogger for Gary Stringham & Associates. Gary provides consulting and expert witness services in embedded systems such as robotics. Feel free to contact Gary at 208-939-6984.