Legos have been used to create cars and array of different items, but using Legos to create a prosthetic arm is a new one for the books. DIY Lego connoisseur, David Aguilar, is a 19-year old bioengineering student who has spent years hand-crafting Lego-based prosthetic arms. What stemmed this inspiration? Aguilar was born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. Now on his fourth model of his own Lego prosthetic, his dream is to build affordable robotic limbs.
“I would try to give them a prosthetic, even if it’s for free, to make them feel like a normal person, because what is normal, right?” says Aguilar, according to Rueters when talking about making cheaper prosthetics.
Legos became the building material for Aguilar’s first artificial arm at the age of nine, and as he grew, each arm became more efficient than the last.
“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,” says Aguilar.
All of Aguilar’s Lego models are on display at his current university, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain. Each model is marked with MK followed by a number, which takes after Iron Man and his MK armor suits.
Supporting the red and yellow robotic arm, Aguilar demonstrates how the arm bends at the elbow joint and flexes the grabber as the electric motor whirs inside.
Known as “Hand Solo” through his YouTube channel, Aguilar demonstrates the MK-III.
