Accelerating toward independence

l to r: Jonathan LaGrone, Jacob LaGrone, Chad Ferrand, Matt Chiasson, and Josh Stevens

As LSU student Chad Ferrand zoomed around the parking lot in his newly modified golf cart, you could sense the independence he had just gained. He gained the freedom to move from one place to another without relying on others and the independence to not have to avoid uneven sidewalks or rocky terrain. This is the independence that people who are confined to a motorized wheelchair often do not enjoy.

“All-terrain wheelchairs are too big for inside, and indoor wheelchairs can’t go safely on uneven terrain,” said Ferrand. “If you want to get around inside and outside, you have to buy two chairs, and that’s too expensive.”

Chad Ferrand

Ferrand approached the Department of Mechanical Engineering at LSU with the idea of a modified cart as an engineering project. His goal was to achieve greater mobility with the cart. Ferrand found new independence thanks to two groups of LSU mechanical engineering students who chose the golf-cart modification project as their senior design projects.

The first segment of the project was transforming a standard golf cart into an extended cart with a wheelchair-accessible ramp. This phase of the project created a golf cart that Ferrand could access without having to leave his wheelchair.

Mechanical engineering students Rob Frater and Cordelle Seals completed the first phase in May 2002 under the supervision of Guoqiang Li, assistant professor, and Su-Seng Pang, associate vice chancellor and professor.

The second phase of the modification was designing and building a control mechanism that Ferrand could utilize and adding safety devices to the golf cart. The steering, acceleration, and braking systems were modified to be controlled by a single joystick, similar to the joystick on Ferrand’s wheelchair.

Matt Chiasson, Jonathan LaGrone, Jacob LaGrone, and Josh Stevens completed the second segment of modifications in December 2002. Michael Murphy, associate professor of mechanical engineering, served as project adviser.

“We chose this project because it was something worthwhile to do,” said Jonathan LaGrone. The team said this project has changed their perspective about wheelchair-bound people. “I had never been close to a person in a wheelchair,” said LaGrone. “We really got to know Chad. He is very independent, more independent than I thought he would be.”

Ferrand was involved in the process throughout both phases, helping the team members see the project from the user’s perspective. “I’m very interested in the project,” Ferrand said. “It’s been neat to see it all come together; I’m very excited.”

Ferrand graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in general studies.

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Written by Moira Parker | University Relations
Last updated January 2003

Related Sites:

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Service Learning Initiative at LSU

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