Student invents shopping cart seat for older people and people with disabilities

Good thing!
Student invents shopping cart seat for older people and people with disabilities

11-year-old Simon develops a valuable idea to make everyday life easier for others and impresses the jury at “Jugend forscht”.

Shopping in the supermarket can get really hectic and stressful. Especially now in the run-up to Christmas they are Discounter more than just well attended. At the weekend it can happen that there are queues at the meat counter that feel like they stretch through the entire store. And the queues at the checkouts also demand enormous patience from customers.

For most people, this is just annoying, annoying and time-consuming. For other people, however, these moments can be more than just a test of patience. For example, there are older people who get exhausted more quickly and would benefit from a short break every now and then. People with disabilities could feel the same way. They could also benefit from a moment of calm in all the hustle and bustle to take a relaxed look at the shopping list and think about what might still be missing from their car. Unfortunately, there are currently no seating options in regular supermarkets and discount stores. There are often benches in the entrance and exit areas, but so far not in the shops themselves. This gave a student from southern Germany a clever idea.

A good idea: shopping cart seat for older people and people with disabilities

At the age of eleven, Simon Rackl is setting up a project that is really something very special. He developed a special shopping cart seat for people with disabilities and the elderly. With this model he entered a regional competition in Regensburg in 2023 “Youth research“, the school and youth competition in the field of natural sciences and technology, which is considered the best-known in Germany. Young researcher Simon developed a prototype that can be hung in a standard shopping cart and folded down. This is also possible for seniors or people with a disability a little break in the hustle and bustle of shopping and offers the opportunity to relax while sitting in the store.

“Youth researches”: promoting ideas and making everyday life easier for others

In fact, Simon, who won that Joseph von Fraunhofer High School Cham visited in Bavaria, won second prize in the field of “technology” at “Jugend forscht”. The jury is said to have been enthusiastic about the practical implementation of the project and the student’s creativity. He received a special award from the Bavarian Insurance Chamber for his great idea and development.

In addition to Simon, there were also other impressive participants. That was with eleven projects (out of a total of 48). Joseph von Fraunhofer High School strongly represented at the University of Regensburg and was able to achieve impressive results. Other impressive and innovative projects were developed, such as a sun protection for a raised bed, a rotating base for garbage cans or a size-adjustable egg cup.

The head of the so-called Nutcracker Inventors Club and the school’s MINT representative, Robert Wagenbrenner, received the “Special Prize for Dedicated Talent Promoters”, and the Joseph-von-Fraunhofer-Gymnasium was honored for the second time for its special commitment to promoting mathematics, science and science Technically interested students were nominated as the Bavarian Research School of the Year 2023 as part of the “Jugend forscht” competition. The inventor club has also been exhibiting its inventions at the international invention fair iENA in Nuremberg for more than 15 years. Simon won a gold medal there.

Sources used: jvfg-cham.de, jugend-forscht.de

This article originally appeared on Parents.