The Alerter

For my ninth grade engineering capstone project, my group and I set out to make a device for those who are physically challenged with Cerebral palsy, severe arthritis or other physical disabilities. Due to these disabilities, it could be more difficult for children to participate in class, whether it be schoolwork or a classroom discussion. Therefore, we made a device to help those with physical disabilities. Our device consisted of five big arcade buttons and an RGB LED matrix screen. Each of the buttons had a pre-programmed text to display on the screen such as, “I have a question”, “I have an idea”, “May I go to the bathroom”, “May I go to the nurse” or whatever response the recipient would have wanted. One button on the side was a reset button to make the screen blank again. On the bottom of our device we placed a 3D printed clamp so the Alerter could be attached to a desk, wheelchair or wherever it needed to be. This project received great feedback and is still on display to this day in our schools makerspace.