Voice of the future
When Hewitt-Trussville High School’s engineering class assigned a senior project, student Mackenzie Dotson’s first thought was not for the grade, but rather the chance to create positive change.
With the guidance of her teachers, Dotson designed a voice-controlled electric wheelchair, which she hopes could ultimately make a difference in the lives of individuals with quadriplegia.
“I wanted to make something that would really help those who aren’t really thought of a lot when it comes to designs and building stuff to help society,” Dotson said. “[Quadriplegic people] don’t make up a large percentage of society, and yet there’s still a lot of people who suffer from that. And they need help with that; a lot of times, they don’tget [it].”
The chair, which Dotson assembled herself, interprets basic voice commands and translates them into programs that control an actuator, in turn moving the chair’s joystick and, finally, the chair itself.
In March, Dotson’s project was entered into the Central Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and was awarded second place. She advanced to the state fair at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, where she was awarded first place in her project’s category: robotics and artificial intelligence.
Her design also received Boeing Company’s Best in Category award and grand award for Best Innovative Concept; the U.S. Army’s Special Award and most outstanding senior project; Outstanding Project from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Huntsville; the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Special Award; and the Greater Huntsville Rotary Club Special Award.
According to Christopher Bond, the engineering teacher at HTHS, the project is remarkable in its complexity.
“What most people don’t realize is that Mackenzie learned how to program with a new computer language, wire electrical circuits and design mechanical actuators all in a short amount of time,” Bond said. “When many student projects of three people would struggle with completing one or two of these items in a semester, Mackenzie completed them all, all by herself.”
While Dotson’s wheelchair design is the first major project that she has created, it wasn’t her first venture into the world of engineering. A lifelong lover of science, she has been interested in engineering since participating in a seventh-grade English project.
“We had to decide what we wanted to be when we grew up … and why we wanted to be that,” she said. “And I found aerospace engineering.”
Now, she aspires to a career in NASA, and she hopes to one day help send humankind to Mars. “It would just be awesome to be a part of that project,” she said, explaining that she plans to study aerospace engineering at the University of Alabama with a possible double major in physics.
Dotson is thankful for the help of her teachers, including Bond, who she said helped her make the project the best it could be. “He was a huge help, and he really pushed me to figure out not only what was the best, but where it could go next,”she said.
As for Bond, he said he is looking forward to seeing what Dotson accomplishes in the future. “Her project gives Mackenzie a glimpse in how design can make the world a truly better place,” he said. “She is not only talented, but she cares for others, and that is a great combination.”
And the project’s grade? Dotson said that she had not yet received it as of her interview with the Cahaba Sun. “But I’ve been told that it’s probably an ‘A’,” she said.