Background:
Rob Jones is a double, above the knee, amputee that is committed to pushing himself past any obstacle. Rob is a fellow Hokie that deployed to Iraq in 2008 with the Marine Corps. In 2010, he deployed to Afghanistan where his main role was to detect buried IEDs. Unfortunately, an IED exploded before he found it and he lost both of his legs in the incident. Rob has by no means let his condition limit him in any way. He won a bronze medal in the 2012 Paralympics as a tandem rower, ran 31 marathons in 31 days in 31 different cities, and he has also biked across the United States of America.
Rob Jones has not allowed limitations to hold him back, neither will the design team. We will create and build an adaptive SpikeBoard® that will allow Rob Jones to Stand Up Spike (SUS) without assistance. SUS is “Core Out Your Door” which is a stroke that focuses on the abdominal muscles joined with consistent spiking technique, similar to Nordic Cross Country Skiing. We have been allocated $4,000 and 9 months to bring their ideas to life. It is our goal that Rob will be able to participate in SUS beside other able-bodied athletes.
Description:
After many hours of concept generation, concept selection, prototyping and testing, our team was able to build a SpikeBoard® that met all of our requirements including designing a board that is durable, lightweight, includes a brake and allows Rob to propel the board while maintaining his balance and Stand-Up-Spiking uphill, to switch his feet from side to side and to easily mount and dismount. The SpikeBoard® we created has fenders to protect the wheels, a wedge to shifts Rob’s weight forward, Velcro foot pads, tracks, and vinyl flooring to help Rob switch feet, anti-rollback wheels to prevent Rob from rolling downhill, and most importantly, a wireless braking system so Rob can safely and easily mount and dismount the board. With the machines and tools available to us on campus, we were able to create all the components needed to build a fully functioning and successful SpikeBoard® for Rob that met all of our requirements.
Final Outcome:
After testing our product, we discovered that we met all of our target specifications, except one – weight. Our ideal value for weight was 15lbs and the marginal value was 20lbs, however, our board weighed 21.5lbs with all of the components. Although we did not meet our goal, we do not think this will affect Rob’s ability to spike in any way. Our reasoning behind setting these values, in the beginning, was because we wanted to ensure that Rob would be able to carry the board to wherever he wanted to go. During testing, we discovered that Rob wheels the board around like a suitcase, so he does not mind the extra 1.5lbs. Overall, the product was very successful and allowed Rob to meet the goals set at the beginning of the year for the board. While the product was successful, some future updates can be made to improve the board. Research can be done on choosing stronger and more lightweight materials to manufacture the board from. Overall, the project was a great opportunity to improve the quality of life for a wounded veteran.
Status: Complete
Academic Year:
Fall 2018 – Spring 2019
Project Level:
Senior Project
Associated Project: N/A
Faculty Advisor:
Professor Robin Ott
Team Members:
Mark Boswell Brandon Luxemberg
Kevin Carroll Joey Rivera
Josh Croney Rachel Showers
John Moomaw Chris White
Challenge Provider:
Quality of Life Plus
Challenger:
Rob Jones
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