Menard robotics team makes wheelchair for puppy without front legs
ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - A Central Louisiana robotics team finished their first wheelchair prototype for a small puppy without her two front legs.
You may remember Roo from our previous coverage. She is the pup who was named “Kanga-Roo” after losing her front two legs at birth. She was brought to the Heart of Louisiana Humane Society late last year for adoption and is now going from hopping around to finding her balance. Roo is slowly learning how to move with her first wheelchair prototype, courtesy of the Steel Eagles Robotics Team at Holy Savior Menard Central High School.
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“That is one of our favorite things about robotics, being able to go out into the community and do things that are actually helpful to the community, things that people might not think that robotics is involved with,” said Tonya Shepard, the Steel Eagles Robotics coach and teacher at Menard.
Back in October of last year, the Steel Eagles were tasked with building a wheelchair for Roo. Now, Roo’s new wheels are helping to improve her quality of life.
“Seeing the kids, their brains work and trying to figure things out and learning to see live things move and adjust and kind of grow and go through that process,” said Kristy Royall, vice president of the Heart of Louisiana Humane Society.
The team created its first wheelchair prototype from a 3D printer, designed specifically to help Roo go mobile. However, Roo has already outgrown the first prototype, which is a good problem for the Steel Eagles team to have.
“It’s kind of an evolving process until Roo reaches her full size,” Shepard said. “We’re going to continue to adjust and alter and get it to be exactly what she needs it to be. For such a small dog, she’s grown over the last six weeks that we’ve been working with her. So, it’s a lot of fun to see.”
“She’s getting more comfortable in it and starting to really become a lot more mobile,” Royall said. “She was a little bit scared at first. We had a few little tip-overs, made some adjustments, but it’s literally changed her life and the way that she’s able to move, become mobile, not worrying about getting sores or breakdowns from constantly being on the ground.”
While helping this small pup definitely tugs at the heartstrings, this was not just a passion project. Shepard said being able to provide community service in Cenla is one of the keystones of robotics.
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