Teen builds prosthetic limb out of Lego Cubes December 22, 2019
Lego is the largest toys manufacturer in the world.Located in Billund, Denmark they manufacture a line of plastic construction toys which consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks accompanying an array of gears ,figurines called mini figures, and various other parts.
Lego cubes can be assembled and connected in to various types of constructions including cars, buildings or working robots. Anything constructed can be removed again and reused to create another construction.
David Aguilar who’s also nicknamed ‘Hand Solo’ is a 19 year old teenager who used Lego cubes for a different task. Aguilar, 19, who studies bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain was born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. He used Lego cubes at the age of 9 to build a prosthetic arm. Afterwards he developed this as improving versions which each had more moving capacity than the previous ones. The arm is now the 4th version with more functionality.
Prosthetic arms are known to be very expensive. The cost is usually around $4,000 to upwards of $100,000 depending on its functionality. But Lego bricks are much cheaper. Davids dream is to produce affordable prosthetic limbs for those in need.
“As a child I was very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn’t stop me believing in my dreams,” Aguilar, who is from Andorra, a tiny principality between Spain and France, told Reuters. He added, “I wanted to … see myself in the mirror like I see other guys, with two hands.” he says.
All the versions are named MK followed by a number as a tribute to comic book superhero Iron Man and his MK armor suits. The arm has an electric motor in it to bend it in elbow joint and to flex the grabber.
After graduation from the university he wants to start production of these limbs to support those who are in need.
