LEGO prosthetics take the foosball field

First, they built the prosthetic forearms from LEGO. Then, they used them to battle on the foosball field. It was all part of the annual Biomedical Engineering Competition hosted by the University of Toronto's Club for Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering (CUBE).

"It was fascinating. With something as simple as Lego, the students were able to create something complex," said Mary Nagai, associate professor at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) and one of the judges for the competition.

The challenge put to the competitors was this: create a foosball-playing prosthetic forearm prototype using Lego Mindstorms, lego kits containing both software and hardware to create small, customizable and programmable robots.

Teams presented and demonstrated their designs, discussing how a real prototype could be made, including details on the material science, biocompatibility factors and feedback controls involved.

The Feb. 3 event was attended by 60 undergraduate competitors, and judging was performed by Nagai, IBBME Director Paul Santerre and Assistant Professor Benjamin Hatton, cross-appointed to IBBME and the Department of Material Science and Engineering.

Teams ended the competition in an elimination-style foosball tournament -- the ultimate test of their designs.

Although they were not the winners of the foosball tournament, top prize (for the most holistic and detailed design) went to third-year engineering science students Mason Leschyna, Pratik Agrawal and Henry Xu.

The design that ultimately won the tourney – created by Simon Bromberg, Eric Ma, Ben Ouyang  and Zongyi Yang – surprised the judges.

"The funny thing was, mechanically, we chose a design that allowed some more range of movement and greater freedom. But the design we thought was too simple was the arm that was most successful at the foosball competition – that arm won," said Nagai. "It just goes to show that the best design on paper does not always translate into functionality."

The event showcases a growing passion for biomedical engineering, a research field that extends across years and disciplines, with first-year through fourth-year competitors hailing from engineering science, mechanical, electrical and computer, chemical and industrial engineering.

This year's competition was extremely popular, exceeding available space by 50 per cent.

"The CUBE executive would like to thank all competitors and judges, and is looking forward to next year’s competition," said Lara Fu, co-chair of the CUBE Executive.