Vision Come to Life: LSU Mechanical Engineering Seniors Design Running Apparatus For Visually Impaired Students
May 1, 2023
BATON ROUGE, LA – It was a warm, sunny day for playing outside at Louisiana School
for the Visually Impaired, but the day would be unlike any other for a group of four
young girls who excitedly approached the play yard. What they were about to do was
something they had waited for their whole lives, something that perhaps most people
take for granted. This would be the day they could run free.
For the past nine months, a team of four LSU Mechanical Engineering seniors has worked diligently on a project for LSVI students that would allow them to run freely without the assistance of a guide or teacher. LSU ME seniors Madeline Lemoine, Thomas Brinson, and Andreas Kafkallides, all from Baton Rouge, and Nils Jernsletten of Houston, worked with LSVI faculty and students to bring their vision of a running apparatus to life.
“When we started this project, we really didn’t know what to expect working with the children, but they have such a joyful, fun disposition,” Kafkallides said. “They tell us they enjoy running, so we really wanted to see them running without a guide.”
“In P.E., we run something called a pacer, so the kids must always hold onto a rope and PVC pipe while they run back and forth, or we would have a guide hold their elbow and run with them,” LSVI coach and P.E. teacher Jennifer Gaudet said. “This project will teach kids the proper way to run using their arms, and it will be a whole new world for us. We are extremely, extremely excited about this project.”
The LSU seniors’ vision was to have two poles set 180 feet apart with a zipline cable between them. An adjustable cord with a vest that the students could hook into would attach to the cable. The LSVI students would then be able to run from one pole to another without someone assisting them.
“We installed a zipline brake with a spring that compresses, and the other brake is a wooden box with a bell so when they hit it, the bell rings and they know it’s going to slow down,” Brinson said.
The LSU seniors collaborated with local businesses who provided their services and time to help with the project. The first step in getting the project going was to have GPRS check the LSVI play yard for underground pipes or wires that might interfere with the placement of the equipment. Specialized Services of Port Allen then dug the 7.5-ft. squares that Block Companies poured concrete into to hold the poles. Turner Industries donated the pipe used to make the 9.5-ft. poles, which Specialized Services installed on the concrete squares.
On testing day, 10-year-old fifth-grader Brylee Williams ran toward the LSU seniors and the new running equipment, excited to race her friends. Williams can’t see shapes or color, but it doesn’t slow her down.
“I love running,” she said. “When I would run by myself, I ran into things and busted my whole face running into a pole.”
Those days are now over for LSVI students like Williams and 11-year-old fifth-grader Dolce Espina, who can only see some light. Asked if she was ready to race her friends, Espina replied, “Yeah!”
“It’s exciting to see them run for the first time,” Lemoine said. “I think the best part of this project was getting to see the kids enjoying it.”
“We haven’t seen anything else like this,” Gaudet said. “Thank you a million times. This is life-changing for them.”
Like us on Facebook (@lsuengineering) or follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@lsuengineering).
###
Contact: Libby Haydel
Communications Manager
225-578-4840
ehaydel1@lsu.edu