Devices made to help those with disabilities
An ongoing collaboration between the College of Engineering and the Assistive Technology Lab at USU aims to create devices that enrich the lives of the elderly and those with disabilities.
“We’re here to adapt, design, innovate and build anything for anyone with disabilities,” said Clay Christensen, the Assistive Technology Lab coordinator. “We’ll try anything once.”
In a press conference Wednesday, representatives from the Utah Assistive Technology Lab and the mechanical engineering department demonstrated two machines designed to solve specific problems encountered by persons with disabilities.
One machine is designed to lift a wheelchair into the trunk of a car with minimal effort. The other is a specialized mechanic’s creeper, a device designed to lower a person from a sitting position to the ground in order to get under a car to perform maintenance or repairs.
Engineering students, in cooperation with the Assistive Technology Lab, designed and built the devices as projects for the two-semester capstone design class, taught by Steve Hansen, a research professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department.
Two of the six projects started in the class each semester address the problems or needs of persons with disabilities, he said. The ideas behind each of the projects demonstrated Wednesday came from the requests received by the Assistive Technology Lab, Hansen said.
“Both of these design projects were in response to specific needs of specific individuals,” he said. “But when built, it became apparent that both had application far beyond that original need.”
The mechanic’s creeper was built by the request of USU alumnus Albert La Bounty, said LJ Wilde, one of the students who worked on the project. La Bounty is an avid mechanic, but he lost the use of his legs and lower torso in a motorcycle accident nearly 25 years ago, Wilde said.
Though the creeper is still undergoing design revisions and he doesn’t have one for personal use, La Bounty said he likes the idea of being able to work on cars more easily.
Wilde said La Bounty played an active role in the project, providing feedback on each design revision.
“He was key to our success in this design project,” Wilde said.
La Bounty said he learned about the services of the Assistive Technology Lab through USU’s Disability Resource Center as a student in 1994. He would go to the lab when his wheelchair needed repairs.
“I used to come over here and get air in my tires or get my tires fixed or (get) a little bolt,” he said. “Consequently, I loved coming here because it kept me going to school.”
The other device demonstrated Wednesday was designed to lift wheelchairs or other heavy objects into the trunk of a car by use of a hand crank.
Amy Henningsen, an occupational therapist for the Utah Assistive Technology Program, said she had the idea for the device after providing care for her mother in the last year of her life.
“She could walk around the house, but every place we went, we had to put the chair in, put the chair out,” Henningsen said.
Henningsen said she was able to handle the wheelchair fairly well but was concerned that some caregivers would have more difficulty.
“My thought was if you have a spouse, if you have an elderly couple, what ends up happening is that person gets stuck at home,” Henningsen said.
James Somers, a graduate student studying engineering, demonstrated the wheelchair lift. Somers, also a member of the design team, said the hand crank required much less force than lifting the chair would, and the lift wouldn’t drop if the user stopped cranking to rest.
Henningsen said she enjoyed giving feedback as the engineering students worked on the project.
“It’s fun to see them … as they develop it and they go through their iterations and refine all their design,” Henningsen said. “Then you see something like this (demonstration) and you’re just like, ‘Wow.’ It’s really neat to see.”
Hansen said many projects produced through collaboration of the Assistive Technology Lab and the capstone design engineering course have commercial merit, and they could be used to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities or elderly individuals, he said.
Each device would cost a consumer roughly $1,000, according to project summaries provided by the Assistive Technology Lab.
Henningsen said one of the most valuable experiences offered at the university is the chance students have to work with consumers.
“It makes such a difference … when people are just designing something, versus being able to talk to people like Albert, who can give you a feel for what they want to — and how they have to — do things,” Henningsen said.
The Assistive Technology lab was created through the federally mandated Assistive Technology Program and is a part of the Center for Persons with Disabilities at USU.
The National Science Foundation has provided a $125,000 grant to fund the capstone projects for five years, Hansen said. The grant money can only be used to purchase mechanical components and help take projects to market.
Other capstone projects include an off-road wheelchair, a mechanical hoist to allow mechanics in wheelchairs perform repairs on wheelchairs or scooters, and a transformable wheelchair which can be pushed, self-propelled or towed, Hansen said.
– steve.kent@aggiemail.usu.edu