[Zack] Okay, now we have the accelerator wired up to this button. Cambry do you want to...
[Cambry] Do the honors?
[Zack] See if it works?
[Music]
[Zack] So he's about to see the car for the first time. We're going to bring him in here.
He doesn't quite know he's going to get it yet. It's pretty incredible all the technology
that are in these toys these days.
[Cambry] There are 300,000 children in the U.S. from birth to 3 years old that could
benefit from a wheelchair.
[Zack] But wheelchairs are super expensive...anywhere from $10,000-25,000.
[Cambry] And the kids grow out of the wheelchairs so quickly that it's hard to financially support
that.
[Zack] But I think we found a solution that's pretty cool and very cost effective.
[Cambry] Let's get started.
[Intro]
[Zack] So this is a little electric toy jeep that we got off Amazon for about $150. Today
we're going to give it to a little kid who has something called chromothripsis – which
means he has some cognitive and physical delays, making it harder for him to, you know, keep
up with his friends on the playground. Which is pretty important when you're a kid. So
in order for us to make it easier for him to drive around, we're going to move the electric
accelerator pedal up to the steering wheel so there's less coordination required when
he's driving around. Everything is right there next to his hands. Luckily there are lots
of different styles of electric vehicles. Jeeps just happen to be his favorite so that's
what we decided to go with.
So it's actually a lot easier than you think to move the accelerator up to the steering
wheel, which we haven't installed yet. The pedal has some plastic clips at the bottom
with two wires. It's a simple switch. They are spade bit connectors which you can buy
pretty much anywhere - any local hardware store or electronics store.
So since the accelerator is a simple switch, we're just going to add another simple switch
to the steering wheel which is this giant red button. The switch right now has a headphone
jack. I never thought I'd say this, but in order to remove the headphone jack, we're
just going to cut it off. And add the same common spade bit connectors to the ends of
these two wires. Since the button is going to be mounted right here on the steering wheel,
we're going to drill a small hole right there underneath the dashboard, route the wires
underneath to the accelerator pedal, that way the kid's feet won't get tangled up in
it or anything. And it looks cleaner.
[Drilling sounds]
Okay, now we have the accelerator wired up to this button. Cambry do you want to...
[Cambry] Do the honors?
[Zack] See if it works? Nice. Perfect.
Now that we've finished adapting the acceleration, we can add the steering wheel and just finish
assembling the Jeep, you know, as a normal Jeep. This is one of the simplest modifications
that we can do to one of these vehicles, and I'll show you some of the more complicated
builds in a second. Let's get this finished.
[Cambry] It just snaps in.
[Zack] What does it snap in like, Cambry?
[Cambry] It snaps...I don't know...like a little....Oh! It snaps like a little Lego.
[Zack] I thought I had her trained. Not yet.
As you probably realized at this point, the accelerator switch can be moved basically
anywhere on the vehicle since the switch is pretty universal and can be mounted anywhere.
[Cambry] He likes dinosaurs and jeeps so we're going to customize his jeep and do a little
paint job with these dinosaur stickers. Some serious static going on.
[Zack] Got one shot. Most of these vehicles have a weight limit between 40-60 pounds,
which is the perfect size for a kid. So if we take a look underneath the hood here, this
has dual motors, one for each of the rear tires. But the cool part is that since this
has a remote control, there's also a motor for the power steering. And because of that
power steering, or the remote steering, it makes it easy to install a joystick, which
gives even more options for control.
So the cool thing about these vehicles is that it gives the kids something of their
own. Something they can use to keep up with their peers or explore their surroundings.
[Cambry] These cars aren't just used to assist with mobility, but they can also be used on
a therapeutic side of things.
[Zack] The whole thing functions with this little tiny switch. This is what's inside
that giant red button. And that button can be placed anywhere. I'm going to have Cambry
show you on this little motorcycle thing.
[Cambry] So with this toy, the button is reversed in that if a child sits on it, it kills the
switch. So the child has to stand up to use it. And now it's a toy that also helps strengthen
the leg muscles and it motivates the child to stand.
[Zack] This car has been modified to help a child with grip strength. This same little
tiny switch is right here inside of the grip so that the child has to use his grip strength
to get the car to move instead of the large button or the foot pedal. Basically it's tricking
the children into developing their muscles by using toys.
[Cambry] Remember, there are 300,000 kids that can benefit from something like this.
This vehicle, for instance, has a back support on it. So if the child has a difficult time
with stability, they can encourage the child to sit upright and push the button with their
back or their head, and propel forward.
[Zack] The cool thing about the roll cage or the support structure is that three-quarter
inch PVC fits perfectly inside of a pool noodle. So you get the padded protection around the
plastic. So as you can see, the options are pretty unlimited. There are a lot of different
cars out there and different ways you can modify them for the kids' specific needs.
So he's about to see the car for the first time. We're going to bring him in here. He
doesn't quit know he's going to get it yet. Luckily Cambry here has a little remote control
so she can remotely operate the vehicle. We'll see if he likes it. You ready Cambry?
[Cambry] Yeah.
[Zack] Okay.
[Music]
[Zack] Yeah! He knows what to do!
[Music]
[Zack] Turn!
[Music]
[Zack] Good job.
[Little boy] Cheese!
[Zack] Cheese. Can I ride your car?
You can always build one of these on your own. I'll leave all the parts that we used
today down in the video description. But there's also an organization called Go Baby Go.
[Cambry] And we've decided to donate 10 cars to kids through this organization that gives
them away for free.
[Zack] Go Baby Go has chapters all across the United States. I'll leave their link as
well down in the video description. So if you or someone you know needs one of these
cars for a kid, you can always reach out.
If you have any questions leave them down in the comments. Come hang out with us on
Instagram and Twitter. And thanks a ton for watching. We'll see you around.
[Cambry] See you in a minute. Need some encouragement.
[Zack] Haulin'!
[Cambry] Yeah. Turning radius is a little weak.
[Laughter]