BMES
Biomedical Engineering Society
The Control and Steering Engineering Project, more commonly known as the CASE Project, is a student-led facet of BMES that works to design and develop adaptable car-based modifications.
The mission of the 2025-2026 school year is to broaden our universal design applications and test them in the Subaru Baja. We are striving to create many different types of adaptive devices to assist people with upper-limb differences to help with functions every driver does such as using blinkers or buckling a seatbelt. Our goal is to design each piece to be fitted to several car models from a variety of dealers.
Our vision with the CASE Project is to better the well-being of others while advancing students further in the world of engineering. This is a student-driven project that further develops design and development skills of fledgling engineers, all while promoting empathy and compassion in the world around us.
Dr. Stu Tobet donated “Tweedy” in honor of his late wife Dr. Joan King who is pictured above. You can visit her website at this link.
Starting in the Spring 2025 semester, we started work on more universally adaptable pieces which we will continue to do into the 2025-2026 school year. One of the adaptions is a foot basket designed for the student with no arms. It’s a 3D printed design that allows him to drive with his feet. We have two prototypes so far and plan to continue to develop this design while adding more projects as we go.
Both prototypes of the foot basket are present here. The design on the right is version 1 and the design on the left is version 2. Both of these projects were designed on SolidWorks.
In the Spring of 2024, Dr. Stuart Tobet donated a 2003 Subaru Baja, “Tweedy”, so we could implement our adaptable simulator design. This has been our main project through Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, where we have been creating modifications in the Baja for a student at CSU without arms. Recreating and inserting the simulator components is the design’s starting point, but we aim to eventually develop this into a street-legal modified car.
There are two versions of the racing simulator that were designed in 2023 and 2024.
Throughout the 2023 Spring semester, we successfully designed a mechanical foot-steering system and adjustable electronic control panel with a display sceen through the I2P 3D Printing Lab. We combined our parts with a NextLevel Racing F-GT driving simulator that was graciously donated to us by CSU’s Formula SAE club. Many of our components were 3D printed, including the control panel, display screen, and the pieces of the steering mechanism, while other pieces were cut from sheet metal using water jets. Everything was deisnged in SolidWorks with the user in mind, focusing on comfort, safety, and accessibility to all.
During the Fall 2023 semester, we continued our work, modifying and advancing our design. With a growing team, we have been focused primarily on the steering mechanism and its control center. This led to the discovery of our four focuses for the year: steering, controls, electronics, and the legal aspects of the car adaption process. We plan to implement our simulator design in a street-legal car that was donated to CASE in the Spring 2024 semester.
The snow was relentless as we took on the 2025 E-Day on April 18th. This year, we continued to display our racing simulator and Tweetie with all the adaptive pieces we’ve been working on. Our main projects were our 3D printed foot basket, blinker system, and continued work on Tweetie. Throughout the year, we also underwent a leadership transfer from the graduating seniors to other students on CASE, leading to some internal reorganization. While we seem to be off to a slow start with this new team, we are excited to hit the ground running next year, showing off what we can offer to the world of biomedical engineering!
Neither rain nor cold could stop us on E-Day on Arpil 19th, 2024. While the weather was not ideal, we showcased our extension on last year’s customized racing simulator, displaying our new adjustments and additions. The 2003 Subaru Baja, “Tweetie”, was on display, showing the real-world implementation of our racing simulator design. We were overjoyed with the opportunity to display our work, and we hope to do the same next year!
The 2023 E-Day was on April 24th, giving clubs the opportunity to show off their designs and projects while engineering students displayed their Senior Design Projects. Here we presented our customized racing simulator that was connected to a monitor, allowing anyone to test drive the design. This event was a great step for the CASE Project! Version 2 of the racing simulator is coming soon!
Check out these articles to learn more:
SOURCE: Engineering real-world biomedical solutions hits home for business major Jian Cohen
Coloradoan: CSU engineering students design devices so man without arms can ‘live like everyone else’
