Before winter break, our group visited the Belmont School of Occupational Therapy to assist in a car-build in order to better contextualize the current equipment and gain some experience in working with the cars. Our main task was working with a Lightning McQueen model car and attaching a controller to the internal circuitry allowing the user to change the speed settings. From a design perspective, this component is critical for implementation in the school and home settings as the initial speeds of the cars are too fast to be used safely.

In order to implement the device, the seat was removed from the Lightning McQueen car and the battery was detached from the motor. Each lead was cut and stripped and the new component was connected between the devices allowing for multiple settings. By working directly with the car and assembling the different components, we found a clearer understanding of the design constraints and the different aspects we would need to consider.

Our project involves the implementation of “lean tools” and “contextualized adaptations” which are terms describing the simplification of existing technologies and the diversion of existing techniques for new purposes, respectively. In the context of our design, we are optimizing mobility devices that already exist in order to be more cost-effective and readily available as well as repurposing existing technologies, motorized toy-cars, to be used in the clinical setting. With these concepts in mind, our group decided to focus primarily on three main aspects to be determined by clearly defining the needs of the patient and the components we deem important. By comparing these two ideas, we can narrow down the three most important design criteria to focus our efforts and create a quality design.