Many young kids with physical disabilities have to wait until they're big enough - at least 5 years old - to use a motorized wheelchair. That can limit their freedom to move around, play and socialize. Now, mechanical engineering students at Northern Arizona University are working to change that. They're re-wiring battery-operated toy cars, to give kids better mobility - often for the first time in their lives.
Sarah Oman is the director of the "GoBabyGo Club". She says, "You buy one of these cars off the shelf, and you take out a lot of the electronics, you modify the electronics so that children who can't operate a foot pedal, for example, we move the activation system to where it is now a hand-activation system." Oman adds, "These kids are 1, 2, 3 years old who previous to getting this car, were pushed around in wheelchairs by their parents."
2 year old River is learning how to use her GoBabyGo car through electronic noises. Oman says the students have programmed River's car to give her musical treats as she learned how to operate it.
"She loves 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'. And so they took that and applied that along with some very unique ideas that might be inspired by octopus arms or all kinds of different aspects of nature. So, let's make some auditory cues that if she does a thing correctly, she gets rewarded by hearing the sound.
A motorized wheelchair for a child - or adult - can cost upwards of $20,000.00 But "GoBabyGo" cars are free in the NAU program. With toy car donations and spare parts from the hardware store, the students can customize each one for their little driver.