Johns Hopkins engineering students build custom walker for tiny toddler

I hate to overplay these things (I&#x27;m a stereotypically emotionally repressed Brit of the old school), but it&#x27;s nice to see a positive story and have something to celebrate.<p>Bravo guys and girls.

There was a senior design class I took at JHU in Mechanical Engineering where outside companies and a few individuals would sponsor design projects, some which are similar to this story. In my class one group build a pedal for a bike for someone with a prosthetic leg. It was an amazing class where you were presented a problem, and then you designed and implemented, or created a prototype of, a solution. It was 20 years ago but I would imagine they still have something similar.

I&#x27;d like to see something similar to an adult version of this. My father had a stroke about 2-3 months ago. Best I can tell what&#x27;s being passed off today as &quot;physical therapy&quot; hasn&#x27;t changed in 25 - 50 years.<p>Holding a guy by the belt of his pants while he pushes a walker that too easily rolls ahead of him just feels dumb. I also think he finds the approach demoralizing. I have to believe there&#x27;s a better way(s) that don&#x27;t coat some ridiculous amount of money.

Not directly about the story, but just wanted to note what a fantastic resource 3d printers are for kids needing prosthetics and other enablement hardware (like this walker).<p>From both a technical and humanitarian perspective I think it&#x27;s far and away the best current use for consumer level 3d printing.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;3dprint.com&#x2F;180365&#x2F;e-nable-robotel-turkiye-chapter&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;3dprint.com&#x2F;180365&#x2F;e-nable-robotel-turkiye-chapter&#x2F;</a>

If anyone is interested in supporting the use of technology to assist those with disabilities, you might consider donating to the Seth Teller Memorial Fund: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;courses.csail.mit.edu&#x2F;PPAT&#x2F;SethTellerMemorialFund.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;courses.csail.mit.edu&#x2F;PPAT&#x2F;SethTellerMemorialFund.pdf</a>

I&#x27;m inspired that engineering students would make something useful for a change and something so impactful to a beautiful little life. Hopefully more higher ed programs will follow this example.

The chair of my CS department at school worked on a project like this years ago: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;faculty.ithaca.edu&#x2F;sstansfield&#x2F;totsOnBots&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;faculty.ithaca.edu&#x2F;sstansfield&#x2F;totsOnBots&#x2F;</a> Not sure what&#x27;s come of it in recent years.

Tragically, this device is illegal in Canada - and would result in a $100,000 fine if imported.