DSU’s AdapT Lab modifies car for Lifescape

August 23, 2024

Nolan Rohl likes things that move -- cars, boats, airplanes.

The DSU senior himself has always been on the move. Because of his father's job as a pilot, he's lived in many places around the world.

"I've driven boats in more countries than most people have been to."

With family roots in South Dakota, the Brookings High School graduate came to Dakota State for college. A chance meeting with Dr. Justin Blessinger led Rohl to participate in a unique project with things that move.

Blessinger is head of the AdapT Lab at the Madison Cyber Labs, working on incorporating technology into adaptive equipment so that people in the disability community can achieve barrier-free living. Part of this effort has involved working with the national Go Baby Go program, adapting ride-on electric cars to meet the mobility needs of children.

Working with LifeScape in Sioux Falls, he and DSU students retrofit electric cars to give kids the ability to explore their world. Most wheelchairs are not designed for small children, so Blessinger said, "It's gratifying that they can explore an environment they couldn't before."

He explained that some modifications are straightforward, but some require more creative solutions, like the most recent build. They needed to locate all the driving mechanisms in only one joystick and keep the Bluetooth remote functioning for the parents' use.

Design schematics are available on the internet that would meet some of these requirements using a Raspberry Pi (small programmable computer), but it also created some limitations. So Blessinger and Rohl designed a non-digital method, using 3D printing and a wooden piece. This made the car more robust and faster, and kept the functionality in the remote.

"This solution is simpler, with less to go wrong," Rohl said.

Blessinger saw this project as something of a logic puzzle, which is a very computer science-based challenge, so Rohl's knowledge as a Cyber Operations major gave him "the computer science chops to help design what we needed."

This skill with critical thinking may be a result of Rohl's worldly perspective, Blessinger said. "When people know they can navigate public transit in a place where they don't speak the language, it gives them confidence, and a new way to look at the world," he said.

Rohl sees the project less as an interesting exercise in engineering creativity. "It was more rewarding see [the child] get into that car and see her realize that she could move around."

Blessinger said that's often the case. When you see the child driving in their car, you forget any frustrations or setbacks you experienced throughout the process. But because it was a unique solution, they are excited to share these plans online.

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