fairfolio
Saved Projects

Rain-Walker: An Engineering Project Testing the Efficiency of a Handheld Umbrella vs. an Umbrella Designed for a Walker

CSEF · 2018 Applied Mechanics & Structures

Alexis J. Korb · English (C.T.) Middle School, Los Gatos, Santa Clara County

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective was to design an umbrella that would be more effective for use with a walker, providing convenience to make a user's life easier, drier, and safer. Methods/Materials Using PVC, plastic, Velcro, and a few other materials I designed a collapsible umbrella for a walker. I tested my design for convenience and dryness. Results The user stayed one hundred percent dry while using my Rain-Walker design during the trials. When testing my control group (a person holding a regular umbrella while using a walker) the user was on average 58 grams wetter. The user also found the Rain-Walker to be more convenient. Conclusions/Discussion The results fully supported my goal of making a easy-to-use, functional umbrella for a walker that would keep users drier and safer when using a walker. Using this new design could revolutionize how disabled people get around in rainy weather. Right now there is not any kind of rain coverage for a walker that is hands-free, so this design is much needed, helping unstable users keep both hands in control of their walker, preventing falls and slips.

Summary statement

The Rain-Walker was designed and engineered to shield a person using a walker from the rain, without having the inconvenience of holding an umbrella.

Help received

I designed, built, and performed the experiments myself. My parents helped purchase a few materials and I borrowed my grandmother's walker.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2018 Applied Mechanics & Structures · Entry J0321

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google