Process Post

Jackson Elmore and Gabriel Fields
1 / 11

Our group wanted to address the problem that many kids in refugee camps are bored frequently, and don't  have fun things to do. As well as making something that would entertain the kids for a while, we wanted to provide electricity, another basic need for refugees.  We decided that we wanted to make a play to power machine that would generate electricity as the kids played on it. Not only would this solve both of our problems that we were trying to adress, but would empower the kids in the sense that just by playing they are helping people around them. Since we planned on solving two basic problems with one solution, this project was classified as fixing a beyond-basic need.

We ran into a few problems in the beginning, mostly revolving around originality. We found out that there was already many play to power machines that existed. Some of them were ideas that we had brainstormed before. We discovered swing sets that generated electricity, see saw's, and others like that.  We decided that it would be best if we made our own playground toy, and found a way to have it generate power. 

We ended up making two mini see saw's that you stand on that powers electricity. 

There is a generator inside one of the boxes, that spins as the kids are balancing from left to right. There is also a ratchet that is connected to the rod, that causes the generator to spin.