A budding engineer’s interest to help handicapped children in early education led to the design and creation of new hand grips for a child’s walker.
Andrew Frye, a senior at Carroll County High School and iLEAD Academy, has worked on this project for a few months along with his project partner, Brack Cayton-Wright. It is their senior capstone project for iLEAD. Andrew began making the grips with the aid of his 3D printer but discovered they were too large and the material was too hard.
They kept working on refining the process and ultimately settled on polyurethane material for the final result. The soft hand grips are pliable and designed with finger grips so they are easy to comfortably hold on to the walker.
Ironically, he got the grips right on the first try after settling on polyurethane as his material of choice.
“We have a need for full adaptive tools for early education here,” Andrew said. So, the boys took on the challenge.
They knew from the beginning they wanted to work with early education students so they approached the Head Start program in the Carroll County Child Development Center. “That’s where you get the most impact,” Andrew noted. The grips they made will be used by Emily West, who is a student at Kathryn Winn Primary School.
They began the process with a computerized design and spreadsheets reflecting the dimensions of all the prototypes. Andrew and Brack collected data using a microprocessor and pressure sensor to test the different prototypes in order to refine the design. In theory, new grips could be made within a couple of hours on a 3D printer. Reality says it might take a little longer to accomplish. Andrew worked on his personal 3D printer - which he calls “a hot glue stick with a couple of motors on it” - at home because he could work any time of day. He ran into a couple of snags while printing the grips, but that’s part of the process and he adjusted to get the final result.
“The goal was to make it comfortable,” Andrew said. He noted the walker came with soft hand grips but they broke down quickly. The material he used should withstand use for quite some time.
He brought the grips to Emily and attached them to her walker. “She was pretty excited about it. She did a lap around the school after they were on,” he said.
According to John Ashcraft, iLEAD Academy Engineering teacher, Andrew and Brack are part of the Transition to Engineering class at iLEAD, which is a partnership between iLEAD and the University of Kentucky College of Engineering. Students are able to receive credit for their first two engineering classes at UK if they meet certain criteria at the end of the year. “Engineering is all about solving problems and helping people,” Ashcraft stated. “I am really proud of how Andrew took the lead on this project. He and Brack both have bright futures in the engineering field.”
Andrew plans to pursue a career in bioengineering with an emphasis on medical robotics, such as making 3D prosthetics that are custom fit to a person rather than injection molded. He will attend the University of Louisville J.B. Speed School of Engineering in the fall. Brack will be attending the University of Kentucky College of Engineering with a focus on aerospace engineering.