Michael Ang

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Adaptive Design Site Visit

Prototyping, School November 9th, 2006

ADA Site VisitADA Site VisitADA Site VisitADA Site Visit

Yesterday my Assistive Technology class visited the Adaptive Design Association in midtown Manhattan. Adaptive Design creates custom equipment for children with disabilities so they can more fully participate in daily life including education and play. A lot of the work they do is creating custom seating. If a child can’t sit properly for extended periods of time it makes it very difficult for them to learn.

ADA primarily uses cardboard as their building material since it is easy to work with, easy to obtain, and fairly durable. Since each piece is basically custom they need to be able to build and adapt quickly. They have developed techniques to give the pieces a finished appearance and you’d hardly guess it was cardboard. ADA is a non-profit and you can get involved and help out!

It’s remarkable how much a difference something built with simple materials and technology can make. The largest cost seems to be the labour — about 2-3 full days are required to build a standard chair. Of course I started thinking using a laser-cutter. They already have an established workflow but it might help for designs that are fairly standard. But the bigger gains are probably to be made from documenting their processes and applying more people in more cities to the problem. Also there are some smaller things that might help within their existing hand-tool approach like larger glue spreaders and jigs for cutting the paper strips that line the cardboard.

ADA site visit pictures (this site)
ADA site visit pictures (Flickr)

One Response to “Adaptive Design Site Visit”

  1. TikiRobot!, Mai Tais and Blinky Lights, Ahoy! » mang’s Adaptive Design Site Visit Says:
    November 10th, 2006 at 3:16 am

    [...] Mang visited the Adaptive Design Association, a NYC non-profit that builds custom equipment for children with disabilities, and posted pictures of their workshop. mang writes: ADA primarily uses cardboard as their building material since it is easy to work with, easy to obtain, and fairly durable. Since each piece is basically custom they need to be able to build and adapt quickly. They have developed techniques to give the pieces a finished appearance and you’d hardly guess it was cardboard. ADA is a non-profit and you can get involved and help out! [...]

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