"Baby Bug" Mobility Device Empowers Infants to Move

The Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) collaborated with Shriners Children’s Salt Lake City and the Open Wheelchair Foundation in creating a powered mobility device called the “Baby Bug Learning Toy.”  

The Baby Bug, a two-motor power mobility chair for infants, was created by the seating and mobility department at Shriners Children’s Salt Lake City to help babies who are missing crucial developmental milestones because they are unable to crawl or walk independently. With the help of the Baby Bug, children are allowed to experience the cognitive, social, and developmental benefits that mobility provides during a child’s early development.  

“When you have kids with mobility impairments, you take away for their experiences in regards to development,” said Scott Jerome, physical therapist at Shriners Children’s. “If you’re not moving, you’re not exploring, if you’re not exploring, you’re not learning.”  

Mobility, especially during the crucial early stages of a child’s life, has been “consistently linked with language and vocabulary development, understanding of spatial relations, memory, and expression of emotion," according to a paper entitled "ON Time Mobility: Advocating for Mobility Equity".

The Baby Bug will allow children to stay on the developmental curve as much as possible by giving them that opportunity to move.  

The UATP took Shriners Children’s original design of the Baby Bug and simplified it to allow for easier and faster production. They developed a CNC computer file so the parts could be cut by a computer-controlled mill instead of by hand, and made the nuts, bolts, and fasteners all the same size. 

These modifications make it easier for someone to make the Baby Bug on their own, which is essential to bringing the benefits of movement to as many children as possible.  

"Infant sized mobility devices aren’t really available in like the market, they’re not really anywhere to be found,” said Brandon Griffin, UATP Lab Technician. “With our open sourcing of this project, anybody can see our designs, anybody can make our designs.”  

Jerome found that through this project, he thinks “this goal is very possible now, for the state of Utah to have access to ON Time Mobility.”   

Are you interested in creating a Baby Bug? The design files and instructions can be found on UATP Instructables page.

Learn more about Shriners Children's Salt Lake City.

Image (right): Baby testing out the Baby Bug by playing with the joystick.