The C.O.O.L Lopper

For this course, Design & Engineering. My partner and I were to choose a tool at home depot that most stood out to us. We brainstormed ideas to redesign our tool in a less stressful, painful and simpler way for the elderly. We chose to research the Lopper, a cutting tool. The most challenging thing was thinking of a way to upgrade your chosen tool and making it better. What I learned from this action project was the different ways designers think and how they have to make prototypes to see if the consumer like what they created. What I am most proud of is our redesigned tool, I actually thought the lopper was already simpler. Making it simpler was the hardest but you learn so much and get very creative.

My partner and I decided to give The C.o.o.l Lopper wheels, there's actually three because we thought that having two wheels was just going to be unbalanced and not still. So it's actually easier to move around. The wheels also are water resistance so it can be in water and it won't slip and has lots of rubber. We added a height adjustable stick to change the height of the lopper any way you want it to be, it's also rotatable. The stepper attached to the bottom is to open the blade when is pushed down and when you let it go it will cut and will also close the blade. On the side of the lopper we have firm jelly handles for the elderly's hands. We made it that way so that it wouldn't put so much stress on the hands when trying to push down the stepper. Inside the legs and stepper we have a pulley system which is connected to the lopper whenever it's opening and closing.  On the bottom of the blade, when the stepper is pushed and release to cut there's a bumper that stops the blade from going too far.  We made it so that it's light and the elderly won't have to make so much effort and strength to drag the tool around the garden. The legs and handles are foldable for storage too. The other Loppers that have been upgraded were very different. Some had bent handles for better comfort and leverage. Some were smaller to carry around and easier to cut.

Everything has been redesigned is for the elderly, so they can feel comfortable and not left out, because they're older. Even though they have made plenty upgrades we thought this lopper will be more effect-able and more usable since it has more gear and it's not that heavy and it can be moved around easily. The existing examples of the original lopper is

• The handles are designed to give the person more leverage, a better grip.
• The lopper has a bumper that is used when doing force in, when cutting which prevents you from crushing your fingers together.
• The maximum cutting capacity is 1.5 & the blade is curved to make the cutting more efficient and smooth.

The C.o.o.l Lopper demonstrates empathy by making people feel an emotion of the experience and putting themselves in someone else's shoes. Knowing that the tool is made for the elderly, they get a better understanding of why the tool is designed the way it's designed. This quote “I love to cut branches, weeds and grass” is relevant to this tool because the lopper is used to cut branches and small things.

J.R, NVA (2015). The C.o.o.l Lopper

J.R, NVA (2015). The C.o.o.l Lopper

J.R, NVA (2015). The C.o.o.l Lopper