Special Olympics Award Stand Design & Fabrication
Undergraduate Project
Project Goal
The San Luis Obispo region of the Special Olympics of Southern California requested a wheelchair-accessible awards stand. Previously, these athletes had been arranged side-by-side on the grass to receive their medals.
Challenges
The stand had to be elevated and accessible to all athletes, including those in wheelchairs. Additionally, when fully assembled, the stands were required to be large and strong enough to support three athletes as well as their wheelchairs. The final product also needed to be portable, simple to manufacture, and easy to assemble.
My Solution
A grid-based frame was built to better distribute loads. The use of beams on the inside also limited the deflection of the plywood when loaded. Wheelchair-accessible ramps with safety bumpers were implemented in order to access the three award stand positions.
Notable Features & Accomplishments
- Manufactured the product using woodworking and machining methods.
- DFMA methods were used to reduce production time, minimize costs, and ensure a simple assembly procedure.
- Design verification tests were designed and conducted to assess the final product's satisfaction of the client's specifications.
Skills Used
- CAD (SOLIDWORKS)
- Machining
- DFMA
- GD&T
- Mechanical Design
- Design Verification Test Design
- Vendor & Client Coordination
- Prototyping
- Stress Analysis