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  • [Zack] Okay, now we have the accelerator wired up to this button. Cambry do you want to...

  • [Cambry] Do the honors?

  • [Zack] See if it works?

  • [Music]

  • [Zack] So he's about to see the car for the first time. We're going to bring him in here.

  • He doesn't quite know he's going to get it yet. It's pretty incredible all the technology

  • that are in these toys these days.

  • [Cambry] There are 300,000 children in the U.S. from birth to 3 years old that could

  • benefit from a wheelchair.

  • [Zack] But wheelchairs are super expensive...anywhere from $10,000-25,000.

  • [Cambry] And the kids grow out of the wheelchairs so quickly that it's hard to financially support

  • that.

  • [Zack] But I think we found a solution that's pretty cool and very cost effective.

  • [Cambry] Let's get started.

  • [Intro]

  • [Zack] So this is a little electric toy jeep that we got off Amazon for about $150. Today

  • we're going to give it to a little kid who has something called chromothripsiswhich

  • means he has some cognitive and physical delays, making it harder for him to, you know, keep

  • up with his friends on the playground. Which is pretty important when you're a kid. So

  • in order for us to make it easier for him to drive around, we're going to move the electric

  • accelerator pedal up to the steering wheel so there's less coordination required when

  • he's driving around. Everything is right there next to his hands. Luckily there are lots

  • of different styles of electric vehicles. Jeeps just happen to be his favorite so that's

  • what we decided to go with.

  • So it's actually a lot easier than you think to move the accelerator up to the steering

  • wheel, which we haven't installed yet. The pedal has some plastic clips at the bottom

  • with two wires. It's a simple switch. They are spade bit connectors which you can buy

  • pretty much anywhere - any local hardware store or electronics store.

  • So since the accelerator is a simple switch, we're just going to add another simple switch

  • to the steering wheel which is this giant red button. The switch right now has a headphone

  • jack. I never thought I'd say this, but in order to remove the headphone jack, we're

  • just going to cut it off. And add the same common spade bit connectors to the ends of

  • these two wires. Since the button is going to be mounted right here on the steering wheel,

  • we're going to drill a small hole right there underneath the dashboard, route the wires

  • underneath to the accelerator pedal, that way the kid's feet won't get tangled up in

  • it or anything. And it looks cleaner.

  • [Drilling sounds]

  • Okay, now we have the accelerator wired up to this button. Cambry do you want to...

  • [Cambry] Do the honors?

  • [Zack] See if it works? Nice. Perfect.

  • Now that we've finished adapting the acceleration, we can add the steering wheel and just finish

  • assembling the Jeep, you know, as a normal Jeep. This is one of the simplest modifications

  • that we can do to one of these vehicles, and I'll show you some of the more complicated

  • builds in a second. Let's get this finished.

  • [Cambry] It just snaps in.

  • [Zack] What does it snap in like, Cambry?

  • [Cambry] It snaps...I don't know...like a little....Oh! It snaps like a little Lego.

  • [Zack] I thought I had her trained. Not yet.

  • As you probably realized at this point, the accelerator switch can be moved basically

  • anywhere on the vehicle since the switch is pretty universal and can be mounted anywhere.

  • [Cambry] He likes dinosaurs and jeeps so we're going to customize his jeep and do a little

  • paint job with these dinosaur stickers. Some serious static going on.

  • [Zack] Got one shot. Most of these vehicles have a weight limit between 40-60 pounds,

  • which is the perfect size for a kid. So if we take a look underneath the hood here, this

  • has dual motors, one for each of the rear tires. But the cool part is that since this

  • has a remote control, there's also a motor for the power steering. And because of that

  • power steering, or the remote steering, it makes it easy to install a joystick, which

  • gives even more options for control.

  • So the cool thing about these vehicles is that it gives the kids something of their

  • own. Something they can use to keep up with their peers or explore their surroundings.

  • [Cambry] These cars aren't just used to assist with mobility, but they can also be used on

  • a therapeutic side of things.

  • [Zack] The whole thing functions with this little tiny switch. This is what's inside

  • that giant red button. And that button can be placed anywhere. I'm going to have Cambry

  • show you on this little motorcycle thing.

  • [Cambry] So with this toy, the button is reversed in that if a child sits on it, it kills the

  • switch. So the child has to stand up to use it. And now it's a toy that also helps strengthen

  • the leg muscles and it motivates the child to stand.

  • [Zack] This car has been modified to help a child with grip strength. This same little

  • tiny switch is right here inside of the grip so that the child has to use his grip strength

  • to get the car to move instead of the large button or the foot pedal. Basically it's tricking

  • the children into developing their muscles by using toys.

  • [Cambry] Remember, there are 300,000 kids that can benefit from something like this.

  • This vehicle, for instance, has a back support on it. So if the child has a difficult time

  • with stability, they can encourage the child to sit upright and push the button with their

  • back or their head, and propel forward.

  • [Zack] The cool thing about the roll cage or the support structure is that three-quarter

  • inch PVC fits perfectly inside of a pool noodle. So you get the padded protection around the

  • plastic. So as you can see, the options are pretty unlimited. There are a lot of different

  • cars out there and different ways you can modify them for the kids' specific needs.

  • So he's about to see the car for the first time. We're going to bring him in here. He

  • doesn't quit know he's going to get it yet. Luckily Cambry here has a little remote control

  • so she can remotely operate the vehicle. We'll see if he likes it. You ready Cambry?

  • [Cambry] Yeah.

  • [Zack] Okay.

  • [Music]

  • [Zack] Yeah! He knows what to do!

  • [Music]

  • [Zack] Turn!

  • [Music]

  • [Zack] Good job.

  • [Little boy] Cheese!

  • [Zack] Cheese. Can I ride your car?

  • You can always build one of these on your own. I'll leave all the parts that we used

  • today down in the video description. But there's also an organization called Go Baby Go.

  • [Cambry] And we've decided to donate 10 cars to kids through this organization that gives

  • them away for free.

  • [Zack] Go Baby Go has chapters all across the United States. I'll leave their link as

  • well down in the video description. So if you or someone you know needs one of these

  • cars for a kid, you can always reach out.

  • If you have any questions leave them down in the comments. Come hang out with us on

  • Instagram and Twitter. And thanks a ton for watching. We'll see you around.

  • [Cambry] See you in a minute. Need some encouragement.

  • [Zack] Haulin'!

  • [Cambry] Yeah. Turning radius is a little weak.

  • [Laughter]

[Zack] Okay, now we have the accelerator wired up to this button. Cambry do you want to...

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