Custom-Cane:
A Walker-Cane Fusion to Make Bathrooms More Accessible
Eden Brunner, Rachel da Cruz, Amna Imran, Aragya Goyal, Josh Summers
thecustomcane@gmail.com
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Why Care?
Why Care?
Think about the last time you used a bathroom. Did you have to worry about which direction the door swung open? Did you have to worry about reaching countertop amenities such as paper towels and soap? Were you worried about how you would actually support yourself doing your business?
While most of us don't have to think twice before using public bathrooms, people with impaired lower body mobility report all of these problems, and many more. From our 11 problem discovery interviews, this population reported 18 different complaints in the public bathroom space. These problems affect users of wheelchairs, walkers, canes, scooters, leg casts, and crutches; this amounts to 1 in 10 Americans, or 19 million people!
"How Might We" Design Question
"How Might We" Design Question
“How might we empower individuals using assistive devices by providing portable, lightweight tools to reduce discomfort caused by improper toilet support placement and door swing?”
The Custom Cane won 1st Place for Art of Making groups at the University of Pittsburgh's 2023 Fall Design Expo!
Watch Our Prototype in Action!
Watch Our Prototype in Action!
Total Users For Final Prototype: 2
Jillian, a leg cast user:
"For standing up or getting out of bed specifically, this would be very useful!"
Emma, a wheelchair user:
"I haven't seen something that solves all these problems before … you don't need to be a mechanic to figure it out!"
Design Goals
Design Goals
Provide stability and comfortable grip for standing up
Weight bearing (200lbs) and compact (>18 inches)
Assist with opening bathroom doors
Substitute bathroom support bars
Easily switchable and cleanable pieces
User Outreach and Iteration 1
User Outreach and Iteration 1
In order to explore the problem, our team reached out to a culmination of 25 organizations and individuals, including individuals from Center of Assistive Technology at the School of Rehabilitation Science and professor Todd Hargroder. From our 11 problem discovery interviews with users and experts, we identified three key issues to focus on for this project: improper bathroom door swing, heavy doors, and incorrect support bar installment.
For this reason, we started by creating a toolkit that tackled issues relating to opening doors and supporting one's weight inside narrow bathroom stalls; this way, users wouldn't have to repurchase their wheelchairs, canes, crutches, or other assistive products. Our initial toolkit consisted of a collapsible walker and door opener design made of PVC pipes, foam balls, and colored tape.
Iteration 2
Iteration 2
For our next walker-cane iteration, we created a more robust, weight-bearing prototype using copper pipes, bunjee cords, and a hairpin locking mechanism. Users liked that this version was narrower and more collapsible, but wanted more stability and a wider base.
For our door opener prototype, we reused a previously created door wedge and attached it to the PVC pipe, and we created a robotic door opener using the redbot kit. Users were more receptive to the door wedge prototype.
Iteration 3
Iteration 3
For our next iteration, we mainly focused on the walker-cane fusion prototype. Upon user requests, we added a baseball base to the cane, however, testing showed that this harmed the robust look of the prototype we were trying to achieve.
Additionally, we reduceed the length of the handles and added a more comfortable grip by wrapping the handles in foam and fabric. Again, testing showed that this made the prototype look less professional and reliable.
Overall, by this point we had achieved various functionality goals, however, we needed to focus on the aesthetics of the model.
Final Iteration
Final Iteration
For our final prototype, we created two door opening attachments and a walker-cane fusion.
For the custom-cane...
We ordered black bike handle bars that are collapsible. To improve stability, as users mentioned, we purchase appropriately sized hairpins and created a CAD file to drill holes in the exact locations on aluminum tubes. Further, we purchased a cane with a wider base to improve stability, yet accomodate narrow bathroom stalls. After assembling the handles, loccking pins, concentric aluminum tubes, and cane base, we spray painted the model black to create a sleek and robust look and adress the previous aesthetics issue.
For the door opening attachments...
We created a hook that could be used to open bathroom stall doors that are light, but swing inappropriately. We carved four sheets of laser cut wood, and glued these layers together.
Next, we created a door wedge to hold open heavy bathroom entrance doors. Motivated by the positive feedback we received on interation 2 and inspired by a previous AOM team, we created a door wedge connected to ball joint in order to allow 360º motion.
A connector piece (typically used for cameras!) was used to make both prototypes switchable and attchable to the cane.
How It Works:
How It Works:
Collapsable Handlebars:
Spring lock mechanism collapses the handlebars and locks them in place.
Locking Pins:
Cut holes allow collapsibility up to 2ft to accommodate a variety of heights.
Quick Swap Mechanism:
Allows attachments to alternate based upon user needs.
Attachments:
As of now, we have the cane base attachment as well as two door opening attachments.
Comparitive Results
Comparitive Results
After testing with Emma and Jillian, we were able to analyze our success for various design goals. Both users liked the height adjustibility and collapsibility aspect of the cane when comparing it to conventional devices on the market, such as crutches. Still, both users wanted further decrease in size–what they really want is a cane that can easily and quickly be collapsed and tossed into a book bag.
In terms of the stability, weight bearing, and support ratings, we noted a significant improvement from the last prototype iteration. This was reflected in both interviews, where users claimed that the support provided by the cane was "addressing a lot of unmet needs" (Emma). Additionally, the users seemed to trust the prototype more due to a more polished look.
Future Work
Future Work
Further decrease size and bulk of the cane in its collapsed size
Telescoping base
Develop additional assistive attachments
Further testing of latest prototype iteration
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