Classroom to Community - Adaptive Creations for Education
The Kids Can Ball - Engaging Gym Equipment for the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children
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The Original Kids Can Ball
I joined the Adaptive Creations for Education (ACE) team and Kids Can in the fall of 2020. When I joined the team, the ball seen here was revision 1. Revision 1 had been used in gym class at WPSBC for two years successfully, but the educators were looking for something different.
The original Kids Can ball was a project from The Art of Making course at Pitt. It was completed by a team of freshman working with the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.
WPSBC Students enjoyed playing with the Kids Can Ball, but there were some modifications that needed to be made:
The ball would roll away from students.
The ball was not bright enough. Some students were not able to perceive the light it produced.
It was difficult to charge.
Gym Class with Kids Can
The Building of The Kids Can Ball
Due to the nature of remote design work, the build process of the Kids Can Ball was difficult but provided our team with invaluable experiences. The process of constructing the circuitry can be seen here. The design utilized an Arduino Nano in addition to amplifier, a board for USB charging, a variety of electrical components, and even 3D printed parts! Below you can see videos showing the Kids Can ball in action.
Kids Can in Motion
How to Use the Kids Can Ball
An Iterative Design Process
The process of designing a new Kids Can ball required a variety of tests and iterations, which were complicated by the protocols of the pandemic. We began with the design on the left. The team at WPSBC liked that the majority of the surface of the ball lit up and that it had a flatter face, but, edits still needed to be made. We pursued a ball that had a flat bottom and a translucent surface that lit up.
