Rose-Hulman students design car simulator for Union Hospital
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Physical Therapy Laboratory at Union Hospital in Terre Haute has a new tool to help rehab patients re-learn how to get in and out of a car.
Six Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology mechanical engineering students found a 1994 Ford Ranger at the salvage yard and transformed it into a car simulator to help patients get on the road to recovery. It is open on one side to allow therapists and other staff to help assist patients throughout the training process.
“At first it was a little nerve racking. There was a lot riding on this project. We had a lot of people that were really excited about what we could do,” Zak Koehler, Rose-Hulman mechanical engineering graduate, said.
The car simulator helps patients practice getting in and out of a car after surgery, stroke, or any mobility challenge.
The hospital’s previous version was also made by Rose-Hulman students. Over time, it became too small for some patients and couldn’t be raised or lowered to mimic different vehicle models.
“With the ability to raise and lower the entire vehicle, they gained that ability to test people out at different difficulty levels … [and] were able to test a wider range of patients,” Koehler said.
Union Hospital says the new simulator can be used by 90% of patients as they make the transition to home life.
“They actually started using it the day we dropped it off,” Koehler said. “We didn’t even get all the way across Terre Haute and we already got an email saying they’d put two patients through it and that it worked perfectly. Their excitement was probably one of the most rewarding things. The instant gratification of this is working, people are using it, and [that] it’s doing everything we hoped it could have.”
The project was a finalist for the William A. Kline Innovation Award as Best of Show at this year’s Rose Show, an event near the end of the 2023-24 school year that showcased student projects.
“The students’ work on this project is beyond my wildest expectations,” said Neely Quist-Zoheide, site coordinator of Union Heath’s medical rehabilitation unit. “They worked with us to provide us with an ideal simulator to help the needs of our patients. This will really make a difference for our patients.”