Special Car Seat for Disabled Young Adults
Lauren Dillon
Prof. E. Thacher
Dept. of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering
Significance:
Improve the design of the special car seat for disabled young adults
Standard car seats give enough support to disabled babies, but as the babies reach toddler size, these seats no longer give the support that these disabled children need. The ME445 team has the challenge of designing and buildi1i'g'a car seat that disabled young adults can use. If successful, the seat could be patented and manufactured. There is interest among the local BOCES elementary school program for such a seat, and they are potential buyers. If this design were manufactured, many disabled children and their families would benefit because they could ride in the car comfortably and safely. The town of Potsdam could also benefit because the task of manufacturing the seat could lead to some more jobs in the area.
Problem:
Current designs lack certain necessary features
At this time there are only three or four models of car seats for disabled children on the market. The models are expensive and not usually covered by insurance. Another problem is that each model seems to be missing an important design feature and so most customers are unhappy with the product. An alternative to the car seat is to make the child's van wheelchair accessible. This can mean adding a ramp or a lift and tie-downs. This is not an alternative for most families though, because it is extremely expensive and it is hard to find a place that can equip vans in such a way.
Objectives:
The thesis is in two parts, the ME445 design project and then the business plan.
Part 1: ME445 project
1. Take parent and teacher feedback and design a car seat for disabled young adults.
2. Build a prototype of the chosen design.
Part 2:
1. Explore Clarkson University's Intellectual Property rules.
2. Investigate what liability the students, professor, and the school could have if the seat were to malfunction.
3. Put together a small business plan for the manufacturing of the car seat.
Methodology:
Design, Construction, and Business Plan
Our customer, Linda Reece, an occupational therapist at the local elementary school, is working closely with the design team. She is gathering ideas from parents and the other therapists at school for us to take and use to improve the current designs. We are also benchmarking all the current models so that the team does not have to start from scratch. The team will then brainstorm ideas for major components
of the seat, and each person will make sketches of how they see the car seat. From these sketches, three alternatives will be chosen and models will be made of all three. When a final model is chosen, construction on the seat will begin.
Working in parallel with the design team, I will investigate Clarkson' s intellectual property rules and liability possibilities. I will also learn about small business plans and when capable, put one together for the manufacturing of the car seat.
Expected Result:
The team expects to build a prototype for a car seat for disabled young adults that will be able to be manufactured, at least on a small scale.
Time Table:
September-December: The team plans on working on designs of the car seat. By the end of the semester we will have the design that we are going to build.
September-October: Learn Clarkson's Intellectual Property policy. Start learning about small businesses.
October-November: Learn about what liability the team may face. Continue learning about small businesses.
November-December: Focus on the small business plan.
December-January: Write the thesis, which will include a small business plan.
January-May: The team will build and test the prototype. By April the prototype should be ready to be manufactured.