AMBUCS Trike Repair

thingiverse

My spouse is a physical therapist who works extensively with children possessing special needs and wounded veterans. She provides vital support and contributes time to an organization called AMBUCS, which offers mobility solutions for these remarkable individuals. To enable users of the bikes or tricycles, they employ demo equipment that gets extensive usage and wear. A trike's handlebar had broken, prompting my spouse to suggest I tackle a new "project". I thoroughly enjoy taking on challenges so I enthusiastically agreed to help out. I'd previously explored 123D Designer and believed it to be an exceptional design tool, so I devoted several evenings learning the software before diving into designing the replacement part. The process proved relatively easy apart from some dimensional challenges, which can be tough in 123D. I sincerely hope the developers continue enhancing its capabilities since it's a remarkably user-friendly design tool. I truly like it! The broken black piece supports a four-foot-long steel rod featuring a grip on one end used for controlling the tricycle during demo sessions with a child weighing up to forty pounds, which places considerable stress on it. The replacement part was designed from silver PLA, but only time will reveal if it can withstand such stresses. I managed to lift the trike and maneuver it without encountering excessive flexing in the plastic grip as I did before the replacement part was printed. If it were to fail, a new one could be printed within approximately eight hours. You may observe a seam on the component, resulting from touching my printer's frame during printing and producing an unmistakable static discharge spark that caused the print job to cease six hours in. To join the two parts together after splitting the original part using Cura for slicing purposes, I utilized CA glue followed by careful sanding. The final images are of recent prints; a couple more prints remain to address additional trikes. Latest Update: I've created around twelve units so far and have sent them across the world. Remarkably, they have demonstrated impressive resilience, except for one defective unit that may be linked to issues with its PLA spool during printing.