The Class
My CS 207 (Building Gadgets) class at the University of Regina is going to simply be, without exaggeration, the most thrilling, the most educational, the most exciting class I have ever taken. Why? Because of final projects like these:
Who doesn't want to build a motion sensing, automatic paintball gun security system?
Ok, I don't want to, but I did think about a bull made out of Lego that would charge only at red things.
Then I remembered the misery daughter had with her wheelchair, and thought, "There has to be something I can do to make it better." After all, that's what dads do, isn't it.
What I Hope to Accomplish
In this project, I will be solving a problem that users of manual wheelchairs face on a daily basis - they are invisible to able bodied people walking near them. This leads to collisions, and squished toes, as people don’t see the person in the wheelchair as they make turns, stop, and back up. This becomes even more important in more crowded areas like schools and shopping malls where traffic becomes stupider the more people added. The proposed solution borrows from another well known facet of Western Civilization that suffers from stupid people -- traffic.
The Current Chair
I will be using a typical manual folding wheelchair. Now that my daughter is using a walking boot cast and seems to be recovering, I have the chair all to myself.
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| Complete with Cat |
The Tricked Out Chair
We will create a system that will show turn signals, break lights, reverse gear indication (along with the Beeeeep, Beeeeep, Beeeep sound) so that others will know to get out of the way of the person in the chair. In addition to the turn signals, it can also display custom messages (easily updated in the source code), and rotate them on a regular basis. For example:
I heard what you said about my chair
It wasn’t very nice.
I’m only 11 and have my own wheels.
U Jelly?
You can’t hurt my toes.
My wheels can hurt yours - stay clear.
Sit down for what you believe in!
The system should be able to get input from the user or the environment so that the turn signals and brake signals do not have to be complicated to signal. Preferably, it should be able to read the body language of the owner, KNOW that the owner is turning left, and put on the Left Signal automagically without requiring specific input from the user. (Unlike turn signals in a car that are manually activated).
Signals will turn off automatically after a few seconds. The user should also be able to easily turn off the system so that you don’t have distractions when settling into a classroom or other things where small, tight, maneuvers are required.
I heard what you said about my chair
It wasn’t very nice.
I’m only 11 and have my own wheels.
U Jelly?
You can’t hurt my toes.
My wheels can hurt yours - stay clear.
Sit down for what you believe in!
The system should be able to get input from the user or the environment so that the turn signals and brake signals do not have to be complicated to signal. Preferably, it should be able to read the body language of the owner, KNOW that the owner is turning left, and put on the Left Signal automagically without requiring specific input from the user. (Unlike turn signals in a car that are manually activated).
Signals will turn off automatically after a few seconds. The user should also be able to easily turn off the system so that you don’t have distractions when settling into a classroom or other things where small, tight, maneuvers are required.
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| Sketch (c) 2012, Elizabeth Johnston, used with permission |
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