Servo - January 2016

34 SERVO 01.2016

own arms or legs — all entirely out of LEGO sets. When he saw the limbs built out of LEGO blocks, he was inspired. He recalled his homeland of Columbia, and the 5,400 children there who lose a limb every year in the armed conflicts raging throughout the country. Tovar went to work, drawing up designs and developing blueprints for his new IKO Creative Prosthetic System. He estimated the cost would be approximately $5,000 for a hand, comprised mostly of LEGO blocks and batteries. The only recurring cost would be a $1,500 3D printed socket that would essentially dock the hand to the user’s limb. It would need to be printed every year in order to fit a growing child.

Although it’s very difficult to get an exact price comparison since prosthetic limbs tend to be very personalized and customized, a 2012 study in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that the cost of a myoelectric upper limb prosthetic can range between

$40,000 and $100,000. The study also found that adults who have had a prosthetic limb their whole life can rack up a lifetime total cost of $800,000 between replacements, repairs, and updated technology. Tovar picked out a very fitting test subject for this kind of project. Dario is an eight year old from Tovar’s native Columbia, and he was born with a partially developed right arm that stopped growing at his elbow. At their first meeting, Tovar was shown Dario’s drawings of robots, and he knew he was the right one for this experiment. Tovar quickly rushed back to Denmark, got approval for his experiment from the LEGO Group, and gained access to the coveted brick library which contains every shaped LEGO block imaginable. The LEGO Group loved the idea, supporting Tovar’s idea that “kids should be the drivers of their own experience and be in control of everything.” With the LEGO Group’s backing, he was ready to create a prototype. He went to work using LEGO sets, some 3D printed materials, and LEGO MINDSTORMS which is a robotic computing platform. His design would revolve around a modular 3D printed dock. From this dock, a hand, a hook, and even a flashing light-up spaceship (anything really) that could be built with LEGO blocks could be attached onto this dock. This is where Tovar’s “playing” aspect comes to fruition.

As soon as the dock and prototype arms were built, Tovar rushed back to Columbia to meet with Dario and test out his ideas. His first concern was that Dario would be able to build his prosthetic — especially when he only has one hand. To Tovar’s delight, Dario was able to command his family and lead everyone to a custom, self-built, LEGO prosthetic backhoe-like hand. The inclusion of his family and