Most of us watched “Iron Man” and, at one point or another, wanted to have our own suits of armor just like star Robert Downey Jr. does in the film. Sophomore Conor Maddry made this dream a reality with his science fair project: an exoskeletal arm.

The exoskeletal arm is able to increase a person’s strength by 10 pounds in each direction. The project won first place in Mechanical and Engineering, and was also Grand Prize runner up in the Langley Science Fair.

Even though this initial experiment was a success, this is only part of his final project.

“Eventually, I’m going to make two legs powered by compressed air, and 21 integrated circuits. The legs would let me be able to jump higher, run faster, and run longer. The legs will be paired with arm once finished.”

For those of you “Iron Man” fans out there who’ve always wanted your own exoskeletal body parts, Maddry explained to the how he was able to do it (not that we recommend trying). “It uses 4 relays in an h-bridge configuration, which is just a way of controlling a motor in terms of direction. The h-bridge is paired with 2 bipolar junction NPN transistors which acted as switches. Their state is dictated by the resistance in the FSR’s located on my forearm which then changes the internal resistance of the transistor turning on the bases or the relays turning on the motor in the direction relative to the FSr triggered.”

If that sounds like scientific gibberish to you, probably best not to DIY this one.

Though exoskeletal arms are already on the market, Maddry explained that “the difference between my project and what’s already on the market is the cost. I use force sensitive resistors, (FSRs) instead of electrodes measuring the minute electrical signals triggered within the muscle and processing them, which cost hundreds of dollars.”

With his science fair project, Maddry offers both frugality and the chance to become Robert Downey Jr. What more can we ask for?