Johns Hopkins engineering students build custom walker for tiny toddler | Hacker News Reader

Johns Hopkins engineering students build custom walker for tiny toddler

hub.jhu.edu

126 pointsjamessun19 comments

I hate to overplay these things (I'm a stereotypically emotionally repressed Brit of the old school), but it's nice to see a positive story and have something to celebrate.

Bravo guys and girls.

We are inundated with news that outrages, saddens, and depresses. Whether it's because we have a natural affinity and attraction to such news, or because algorithms put them in front of us for profit, I believe it greatly detracts from the human experience.

Bravo, and thank you OP for sharing.

"Whether it's because we have a natural affinity and attraction to such news, or because algorithms put them in front of us for profit..."

Obviously, it's both. If humans didn't have an affinity for it, it wouldn't profit.

There was a senior design class I took at JHU in Mechanical Engineering where outside companies and a few individuals would sponsor design projects, some which are similar to this story. In my class one group build a pedal for a bike for someone with a prosthetic leg. It was an amazing class where you were presented a problem, and then you designed and implemented, or created a prototype of, a solution. It was 20 years ago but I would imagine they still have something similar.

Fellow alum here, most engineering majors still have a similar design project as a significant chunk of how they spend senior year.

For mine (I was a biomedical engineering undergrad) we built a computational model of the metabolism of HIV drug cocktails are various dosages modulated by factors like age, weight and phase of HIV infection.

Your experience is standard practice for engineering senior design (sometimes called capstone).

I did the same thing at JHU (albeit only 15 years ago). My project was a pill dispensing machine for a quadriplegic man.

I'd like to see something similar to an adult version of this. My father had a stroke about 2-3 months ago. Best I can tell what's being passed off today as "physical therapy" hasn't changed in 25 - 50 years.

Holding a guy by the belt of his pants while he pushes a walker that too easily rolls ahead of him just feels dumb. I also think he finds the approach demoralizing. I have to believe there's a better way(s) that don't coat some ridiculous amount of money.

Not directly about the story, but just wanted to note what a fantastic resource 3d printers are for kids needing prosthetics and other enablement hardware (like this walker).

From both a technical and humanitarian perspective I think it's far and away the best current use for consumer level 3d printing.

https://3dprint.com/180365/e-nable-robotel-turkiye-chapter/

A few years ago i learned about a company (well, a couple) trying to make 3D-printed orthotics (back braces and so on) for children, based on scans of their bodies:

http://andiamo.io/

http://andiamo.io/background/

The key thing is reducing the turnaround time; at the moment, the lag between a child getting measured and getting the orthotic means they've grown out of it by the time they get it.

If anyone is interested in supporting the use of technology to assist those with disabilities, you might consider donating to the Seth Teller Memorial Fund: http://courses.csail.mit.edu/PPAT/SethTellerMemorialFund.pdf

I'm inspired that engineering students would make something useful for a change and something so impactful to a beautiful little life. Hopefully more higher ed programs will follow this example.

Back in 91-92 the biomed Eng students at University of Illinois built a cart for a dog that lost both hind legs to a downed powerline. Dog could run (it had wheels), sit, and most importantly squat to poop. They ran out of time and money to make a version that would allow for leg lifting and proper boy-dog peeing.

Most things engineers make are useful. Note I’m talking about traditional hardware engineering, not software engineering of things like Tinder.

I'm not sure by what stretch of the imagination Tinder isn't useful, maybe not to you personally but to its intended audience.

By that standard, I could say hammers aren't useful because I personally don't have a use for them, or payday loans aren't useful because I'm personally opposed to them.

Tinder might be useful but in the bigger scheme of things it's low hanging fruit. Nothing wrong with that per se, but it's not the cure for cancer.

P.s. If you don't need shelter or something to eat then yes a hammer will be of no interest to you. Likely, you've found your sugar daddy / mama on Tinder ;)

The chair of my CS department at school worked on a project like this years ago: https://faculty.ithaca.edu/sstansfield/totsOnBots/ Not sure what's come of it in recent years.

Tragically, this device is illegal in Canada - and would result in a $100,000 fine if imported.

Why? (I understand it is some law or regulation, but what is it meant to prevent/encourage?)

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