This week we were able to finalize the wiring of the button, allowing the car to be accelerated via the steering wheel instead of a foot pedal. This accommodates children with lower body limitations or low muscle tone. We were also able to make significant progress on our final presentation poster in preparation for design day in just over 3 weeks.

Next steps from a design standpoint include purchasing Plastidip in order to coat exposed metal pieces with plastic. This is necessary for the safety of the toy, as the exposed metal pieces on the steering wheel and seat can pose a potential safety hazard. We also need to move the dial adjusting the speed to a more accessible location for easy adjustment by a therapist, teacher, or parent. This dial works by adjusting the current passing through to the motor by increasing or decreasing the resistance of the speed controller.

Once these final modifications are complete, we will work on getting the car into the Susan Gray School ASAP. Without IRB approval, we won’t be able to conduct research and collect quantitative data, but the occupational therapists at the school will be able to asses the functionality of the toy. As we have kept in mind throughout the project, we define success by utility of the toy in any capacity, as previous adapted toy designs have just collected dust in a closet. If our design is easy, accessible, and fun enough for a child to actually use on a regular basis, we have succeeded in our design goals.

Future long term directions of the project are to develop a fully customizable kit in which parents or therapists can purchase online with the specific parts they deem to be most applicable to their child. This requires the manufacturing capability to standardize dimensions and parts to be implementable in a variety of toy cars, instead of only a single Lightning McQueen. Parts in the kit would include not only our designs we have used on our car, but also additional designs such as a tray, neck support, other types of steering handles, and more.