The Bouncinator 3000
A custom-made device gives a young girl with physical disabilities newfound freedom
They call it the Bouncinator 3000. To the untrained eye, it looks like a giant baby bouncer. But to Genevieve, an 11-year-old girl living with cerebral palsy and polymicrogyria, it’s a life-changer.
Genevieve is unable to stand or sit up without assistance. That means much of her life is spent either buckled into her wheelchair or laying on the floor.
“My hope was that it would give her a different position to be in, that it would give her the ability to contact the ground with her legs and move in different ways,” says Fred Mansfield, Genevieve’s dad and primary caregiver. “Will it change her life? Yeah, it will.”
And make no mistake: You can’t order the Bouncinator 3000 on Amazon. It’s a one-of-one, developed specifically for Genevieve over the course of an entire academic year by a team of five Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox students in the university’s Servant Engineering program.
It has a load capacity of 200 pounds and a max swing angle of 20 degrees from vertical without tipping. It can be broken down and fit into a typical car trunk, then reassembled by a single person in less than 15 minutes. It has a small footprint and nice finishes, so the device won’t stand out like a sore thumb in the family’s living room. And most importantly, it remains stable on uneven surfaces, allowing Genevieve the freedom to be in the backyard and do her favorite thing: watch her dad garden.
These custom features didn’t happen by accident – they were the result of several visits to the family’s home and hours spent getting to know Genevieve, who is nonverbal, and learning to interpret her feedback.
“I hope these students have learned how to tackle open-ended problems and how to interview and work with clients to really address their needs,” says Todd Curtis, the team’s faculty mentor. “The world needs great engineers, but more than that, it needs empathetic engineers who can relate to the challenges people face.”
Mechanical engineering major Nathan Hayward uses a milling machine to fabricate a custom support plate for the winch system that is used to raise and lower Genevieve.
Brainstorming yields a mind map that shows ideas early in the design process.
Initial 3D sketches of ideas are roughed out using pipe cleaners, rubber bands and paper clips.
Genevieve tries out a prototype of the Bouncinator 3000 that uses a harness, while her dad Fred and biomedical engineering major Maddie Carniglia look on.
Students test a prototype in the Engineering Maker Hub for weight limit, comfort, fit, tipping point and maneuverability.
“Delivering a product to someone so unique and special as Genevieve – and just seeing how her dad loves this project so much and he’s been so helpful – this whole thing just motivates all of us to want to help more and to give them the best product we can.
- Biomedical engineering major Alyssa Wells
Fred works in the garden while Genevieve keeps him company in the Bouncinator 3000.
Mechanical engineering majors Nathan Boyles (left) and Caleb Sawatsky deliver the final product to Fred and Genevieve following months of research and modifications. The Bouncinator 3000 is designed to be easily transported and reassembled.
The Big Day: (From left to right) Todd Curtis, Alyssa Wells, Fred and Genevieve Mansfield, Nathan Boyles, Maddie Carniglia, Caleb Sawatsky and Nathan Hayward celebrate the completion of the Bouncinator 3000 project. They set it up in the back yard for the first time, allowing Genevieve to enjoy the sun and fresh air.
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Cover of Summer 2024 issue
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