HuskyADAPT TOY TYPE CONVERTERS

I joined HuskyADAPT in 2017 to design toys and make toys more accessible to children with diverse abilities. Our team, Toy Type Converters, focuses on finding a way to convert between two types of toys: Bump-and Go and Timed Toy.

The Challenge

Children with mobility impairments need a way to learn developmental skills through playing with toys, which are uniquely activated based on each child's diverse abilities. 

Bump-and-Go VS. Timed Toy

Bump-And-Go toys activates while holding down the button while Timed toy activates for a specific amount of time at one button press. Some children struggle to activate their switch for longer periods, which is necessary to use a bump-and-go toy. Our work focuses on finding a practical converter that allows extended toy activation with a single press of button.

Two Prototypes

Existing Digital Timer

Using existing digital timer and adapting it to control the running time of the toy is both economical and easily manufactured on a mass scale. However, most of the mechanical timers do not have the voltage required to run the toy.

Arduino Timed Circuit

Using Arduino circuitboard, our team was able to build the timer from scratch and control how long the toy runs. The downside is that assistance is required to operate the timed circuit. In addition, because the time is fixed, parents do not have many options for time adjusting.

Future Directions

We plan to transfer our Arduino board designs to a virtual layout in Eagle and eventually print out our own functioning circuit boards to be attached to the adapted toys.