The engineering club has recently begun a new project creating a motorized couch. Having worked on more serious projects in the past, members of the club thought it was time for a fun and innovative new task.
While building a 3D printer, members of the engineering club joked about working on a more creative project, and the motorized couch was suggested. “It’s something we’d been talking about for three or four years, [so] when I became President of the club this year, I thought, ‘Why not!’” senior and club president Morgaine Mandigo-Stoba said.
Members of the engineering club began work on the project at the start of this school year, are now beginning to assemble the couch and machinery. The group found a free couch and plan to buy the other materials that are within their budget. Currently the club expects that they will need four wheels, two motors, two joysticks, and some seatbelts for safety purposes.
The production of the motorized couch is primarily based off of the knowledge of the club members, meaning they will not be using a guide or following instructions.
“In the club, we never do anything from a kit. In the past we’ve followed some online guides to help with more complex parts of projects, but most of what we do is improvisation,” Mandigo-Stoba said. “We use the knowledge [of engineering] that everyone already has and [have] built a group of people who are strong in a lot of areas [to work on this project].”
According to Mandigo-Stoba, the club hopes to have the motorized couch completed by the end of this school year. They will continue to fundraise until they can afford the materials they need to put the moving couch together. There are no specific plans for the couch after its completion. “[We’ll] definitely keep it off the road, but driving it around campus would be cool. Maybe we’ll recruit some new members [with the couch],” Mandigo-Stoba said.
The club is always accepting new members and input from other students. “Our philosophy is that each student should participate as much as they want,” Mandigo-Stoba said. “[We’re] just a group that gets together to have fun and build things that we think are cool or interesting.”