STEM-In-Action Spring Scoop: Resourceful Rookies

eCYBERMISSION STEM-In-Action Grant winning teams have been hard at work for the past year advancing their projects to make a difference in their communities. If you're new to the eCYBERMISSION blog, the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) awards STEM-In-Action Grants of up to $5,000 to eCYBERMISSION teams that wish to further develop and implement their projects in their communities. We're checking back in with this year's STEM-In-Action Grant teams to get the inside scoop on their project progress. Today, we're catching up with St. Louis locals, the Resourceful Rookies.
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We are the Resourceful Rookies from St. Louis and we are here to give you an update on our snap-on walker kits. Since starting the project this fall, we’ve been able to donate 18 kits to three different hospitals and we have 12 to go. We have developed 8 different designs including regional sport teams, Minions theme, and Spider Man theme. We are continuing to develop designs by getting input from school kids and other people.

We have had a couple of issues along the way, such as the 3D printer stopping in the middle of the print and having to restart the machine. We thought it was the extruder, so we ordered a new one and replaced it, but that didn’t solve the problem. We later realized that the blue filament was bad and clogged up the extruder. We were able to use other colors and spray paint them the color that we needed. This spray paint doesn’t scratch off so it was walker-kit approved. There was another problem where the build plate was lifting up in the middle, causing the extruder to touch the print and create an error. By adding a thin layer of glue from a glue stick to the build plate, this problem was resolved.

We have continued to evolve the design by changing the size of the snap-on pieces to make a tighter fit to the walker. We also created a new connector piece for the water bottle and phone holder. The new design utilizes screws and bolts to make a firm connection so the pieces don't fall off.

The hospitals where we have donated these have been very excited to see them. They said it would help kids want to use a walker and would bring a smile to their faces. A physical therapist from Shriners Hospital had this to share about the kits: “The walkers have been an absolute hit with the kids! Most recently, we were able to give the zebra themed walker to a sweet teenager who loved it so much, her entire face lit up! She couldn’t wait to get back to school to show it off.” This was exactly the response we were looking for, so we were all excited to hear this. We hope other kids are enjoying this as much as she is!

An article about our project was published in the West Magazine, a local newspaper: Walking with Style: Local students dress up mobility aids for kids. We hope someone will see this project and be able to take it further and develop it into a mass produced item that you would easily be able to buy. It would be better to have an injectable plastic mold or something like that because it would be quicker and stronger. This technology is not available to us so we have to stick to 3D printing, which takes longer and is less reliable.

We want to give our thanks to eCYBERMISSION and AEOP for giving us the opportunity to share our designs and have a positive impact on our community!

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Wow, talk about making a difference in the world! Resourceful Rookies are once again proving that their name is apt, though we think they're more like experts than rookies! Congratulations team, and thank you for inspiring all of us with your important work. 

Faith Benner

Sr. Communications and Marketing Specialist