Universal Accessibility Kit

Imagine if a simple task like opening a water bottle, buttoning your shirt, or holding a pen became a daily source of frustration and pain. For millions of people living with physical limitations, the world isn't designed to be cooperative. While assistive devices exist, they are often expensive, highly specialized, and difficult to access.

That is why I designed the Universal Accessibility Kit.

Using a "print-in-place" breakaway sprue design inspired by model kits, this project packs 8 essential daily living aids into a single 3D print that requires zero assembly. With just one click, a single print bed produces:

1. Grocery Bag Holder (reduces finger strain)
2. Corner Guards (improves grip on sharp or awkward furniture/edges)
3. Utensil Cuff Aid (helps hold forks/spoons without a tight grip)
4. Pen (Ball) Aid (makes writing ergonomic and pain-free)
5. Chopstick Aid (provides mechanical spring-back for dining)
6. Water Bottle Opener (massive mechanical leverage for tight caps)
7. Shirt Button Aid (pulls buttons through loops effortlessly)
8. Thumb Book Holder (keeps pages open single-handed)

By consolidating these tools into one print file, we eliminate the issue of sourcing individual solutions.

But designing this is only half the story. Figuring out how it can get to the people in the first place is what really matters.

Fusion 360 - Fusion is preferred for this project as the timeline and effortless parametric workflow allow making tools designed for humans much easier to build and iterate on.

3D Printer & Slicer - I used Bambu X1C and Bambu Studio, but others work just as well

When we think about designing a better world, we often focus on inventing new things. But a better world also means rethinking how we share what we already know how to make.

My dream for this project put the power of manufacturing for good to the hands of the community

Instead of an individual having to navigate insurance or pay high markups for plastic lifestyle aids, this CAD file is designed to be completely open-source and hyper-distributed.

Why This Matters:

The need for accessible infrastructure is rising, but it is being ignored

1. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 58 million adults in the United States alone suffer from doctor-diagnosed arthritis, making it a leading cause of work disability.
2. Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights a massive global gap: nearly 90% of people who need assistive technologies or products do not have access to them due to high costs and lack of local availability.

My Vision In Action

I envision a future where local governments, public libraries, senior centers, and community hubs keep a 3D printer loaded with this file. When a family member notices a grandparent struggling with their morning routine, they shouldn't have to order an expensive gadget online. They should be able to walk into their local community center, library, or school maker-space, and walk out 5 minutes later with a freshly snapped-apart kit—completely free of charge.

By turning public spaces into micro-factories for empathy, we can use technology to bridge the accessibility gap one community at a time.

I have a couple of goals for this project relating to the tools themselves

1. Print in place
2. Does not need supports
3. Incredibly simple and intuitive to use
4. Ergonomic and comfortable for the user

Defining and keeping these goals throughout the design of the project is important so that we can get the best quality tools.

The Button Hooker needs a couple of things:

1. Easy to grip handle
2. Slender Hook
3. Geometry to "latch" onto the button

Steps:

1. Planning out how this would look - it seems like this can be done through a sketch and extrusion.
2. Sketch
3. I started by finding out how wide each finger is. I found that it is around 1-1.5 cm. Four fingers around the handle means 60 cm of allocated width. So to keep some space, I planned the handle to be 10cm in length.
4. I kept the height of the rectangle (the handle) as 30 to make it sleek but comfortable.
5. Then I spaced 4 15mm circles out of the length of the rectangle to serve as the grips
6. To make the special curve that allows going under the button, I first made a construction rectangle. I made points of critical area and ran a spline through those points
7. I offset the spline (by 3mm) to make some width
8. Then I mirrored on the other side
9. Lastly, I created 3-point arcs between the spline end points to finish the sketch
10. Extrude
11. I selected everything except for the 15 mm circles
12. I extruded it 3mm
13. Handles
14. I extruded the top rectangle face more (by 6mm) to create more volume on the handle to hold while keeping the hooker slim.
15. I fillet the outside edges to give a smooth and polished finish

Since we used the dimension tools and points for the spline, it is completely possible to change the dimensions of the handle and the arc of the spline to easily fit someone else's needs.

The Pen Ball must meet certain criteria

1. Be big enough to remove the need for a tight grip
2. Can be used with a wide variety of writing stationery
3. Easy to put in and swap out

Steps:

1. Planning out how this would look, it seems like I need to separate a sphere in half and work independently on each to make a sliding mechanism
2. First Half
3. I have normal-ish-sized hands, and while scrunched up, I measured that the width of my palms is around 7 cm. To account for all people, I started off with a 6 cm sphere. I split body the sphere to retain only the bottom half. On this sphere, I will make the pegs. I start off by making 2, 10mm circles towards the outside of the sphere, where I know nothing will interfere.
4. Then I extrude this 10mm
5. Second Half
6. I copied this half sphere I initially made
7. I changed the sketch to 10.4 mm circles to account for printer tolerances to make a smooth sliding fit
8. Instead of extruding up by 10mm, I extrude down, creating a cut into the body
9. Print Recommendations
10. To make the sliding fit easier, I rounded and filleted the edges of the extruded peg cylinder.
11. Additionally, a sphere starts at a single point, making it hard to print. To aid in printing, I offset a plane, and I split the two sphere bodies so that they create a flat surface for the 3D printer to print on
12. Rubber Band Holder
13. To keep the ball pressing on the pen the whole time, I decided to have something very common, like a rubber band, to go around the ball to keep it closed at all times.
14. To make a cavity to keep the rubber bands, I started by projecting the sphere bodies.
15. Then I extruded the projected lines inwards into the spheres to cut them.
16. Finishing Touches
17. I cut a rectangle from the center of each sphere so that when it's fully closed, the sphere can hold a pen, a regular-sized pen inside.
18. And then to make it polished, I filleted the rubber band cavity and the cavity for the pen. So that everything can easily fit together and be ready for use.

Because this was made parametrically, you're able to easily change the size of the sphere to make it 70 or 80mm, or you can also change the peg size and cavity to allow for bigger items, because this can be used for other items that need to be held, like a toothbrush.

The Chopstick Aid needs to be:

1. Quick and simple to use
2. Able to have a place to insert the user's own chopsticks (PLA traps bacteria)
3. Able to replace the chopsticks easily

Steps:

1. Looking at the design, this aid can also be extruded from a sketch
2. Sketch
3. This design is very symmetrical, so I started by putting a line down the middle to use as a symmetry line reference later
4. I sketched out a rectangle (around 14x12 mm) for the building body to where the chopsticks will be
5. Then I sketched 2 lines sticking out from the rectangle to start the connection point
6. These lines are dimensioned to be 2mm apart as they will be living hinges. Although pla hardens, with the right thickness it can bend a little.
7. Then I mirrored everything using the symmetry line from the beginning
8. I used a 3-point arc to connect the two sides.
9. Extrude
10. I extruded this up 12 mm to create a new body.
11. This now creates a body to shape to ensure chopsticks can fit inside
12. Chopstick Holes
13. I started with a sketch on the front face of the cube body
14. I sketched a square around 6.8 mm
15. I extruded this sketch to cut into the existing body, creating holes for the chopsticks to go through
16. Because chopsticks taper, there will be a point at which the chopstick is tightly stuck in the hole and can't fall out
17. Polishing
18. To make it ready for use, I filleted the whole body, including the outer faces of the square hole so that chopsticks can go in more easily.

In the case that the chopstick is much larger or smaller, or that the living hinge is too flexible or strong, it is easily changed by editing the dimensions from the sketches. The ones shown in this instructable are average dimensions for each.

The Corner Guard will mainly need to be:

1. Round to prevent damage
2. Small and versatile for quick mass prints

Steps:

1. This design can use subtractive modeling by taking away pieces of a cube to make my desired shape
2. Sketch
3. To meet the second requirement, I decided for the corners to be 3 cm on each side. This will allow a lot of these guards to print quickly
4. I sketched a 30mm square with a 20mm square inside it (corner justified)
5. Extrude
6. I extruded 30mm to make the cube I would subtract from
7. Three-Pronged Design
8. I followed the same 30mm square with a 20mm square for each side
9. Then I extruded these 20mm squares to cut into the cube
10. This created three prongs for the XYZ of the corner
11. To polish, I filleted the edges to make it round and protective.

These guards are small enough to print multiple in a single print without adding much time. Additionally, they are large enough to be put on most corners. Because of the simplicity of the design, the size to which the guards extend can easily be changed.

This utensil cuff needs to be:

1. Ergonomic and fits many hand sizes
2. Simple to use and still effective

Steps:

1. In this design, we will take a similar approach and use subtractive modeling from a rectangular prism.
2. Prism
3. I made a sketch that is 40 by 90mm for a rectangle.
4. I extruded this both ways to make a total length of 25mm
5. So make the rectangular prism that we will subtract from.
6. Subtracting the cuff
7. I wanted this cuff to go between the pointer and thumb and around the hand.
8. I got some rough measurements on my hand and found that from the palm to the top of my hand is around two point five centimeters.
9. I also decided that 75 centimeters worth of length is a utensil on the cuff.
10. I made two lines going across from the side of the prism in a sketch that is 75 mm in length and 25 mm apart vertically.
11. I join these two lines using a three-point arc.
12. Then I use the dimension tool to define some wall thicknesses from the bottom of the line. I wanted five 5 of thickness. from the bottom of the prism.
13. Then I added another line on top of the top line that is three millimeters above, which will be the top wall thickness, and is also where we will build the holders for the utensils.
14. Since this is subtractive modeling, I modeled the rough rectangular profile for the holders
15. Now it's time to subtract all these profiles from the prism. So I extruded the area of the cuff plus the negative area so that only the wall thickness and the profiles of the holders remain.
16. Holders
17. On the front profile of the holders, I sketch a rectangle that gives a little bit of wall thickness on each side.
18. I extruded this to cut into the body, which creates a cavity for the utensil.
19. Polishing
20. I filleted all the edges.
21. I ensured that the inside of the cuff and outside were round to ensure the most comfortable fit.

The size of this cuff should work on most hands, but to change it, all you have to do is go back to the first sketch and change the dimensions of the original prism to subtract from. And then go to the next sketch and edit the dimensions to fit your needs.

The Book Holder should be used so that:

1. It only needs one hand to hold the book
2. Is comfortable
3. Reduces the pressure and increases the stability

Steps:

1. This design would also be best made using subtractive modeling.
2. Prism
3. I sketch a 40 by 100 mm prism
4. I extended this 10 mm
5. This creates a long profile to easily hold books, but also something slender to fit inside a purse or pocket
6. Subtracted Faces
7. To create the subtracted faces, I started by sketching on the top face of the prism.
8. I sketched a 26mm circle on the origin, which gives a lot of space to put a thumb to hold a book.
9. I semi-constrained a spline by putting the top point on the y-axis and then putting the endpoint on the edge of the prism. And then I set the distance from the edge of the prism to the endpoint.
10. And then I added a point on the spline to give it a curve to follow the curve that a book makes when opened.
11. Subtracting the faces
12. I extruded the thumb hole to cut into the prism.
13. I extruded the spline area to cut into the prism as well.
14. I married this blind cut feature on all four sides to create a diamond-looking shape.
15. Isolate the end edges to make something round so as not to damage the book. As well as filling the thumb hole to make it comfortable.

The long, slender profile of the book holder makes it compact and small enough to hold a large book without putting a lot of pressure on your finger, and the long profile provides a lot of surface area on the book, which can make holding it more stable.

The Water Bottle Opener needs to be

1. Comfortable to hold
2. Small enough to be compact but long enough to apply a substantial force to the cap
3. Semi-flexible to go into and out of the bottle cap

Steps

1. This design looks like it would be easier if we created sketches and extruded from the sketches
2. Sketch
3. I started by measuring a bottle cap with my calipers. And it read 26.3 mm.
4. I need three circles to make rings.
5. The first circle is a circle that represents the bottle cap diameter. And I added a bit of tolerance because we're 3D printing it.
6. This circle would be the very edge of the teeth. So I made a circle around it offset by 2mm, which is where the inside of the wall or handle will start.
7. The last circle is the offset of the second one by 3mm, which just represents the tool wall thickness. And will be the outer edge of the handle.
8. I made tangent lines on the second and third circle, which represents the handle.
9. I also made a slanted line from the second circle to the handle to give more body for where the teeth will go.
10. I use the cut tool to remove any unnecessary parts of the circle from the inside of the tool that will not be used
11. Then, from the second to the first circle, I made a little triangle which represents the teeth.
12. Extrusions
13. I first extruded the body of the which is the handle with this lens and the wall thickness.
14. I then extruded the triangle separately as a new body to make it easier for a pattern on path.
15. Making all the teeth
16. Started by adding a filet to the edge of the teeth, a slight filet, so that it's not super sharp, but also has grip.
17. And then I selected pattern on path and selected the triangular prism body. And using that first and second inner circle as a reference, I patterned 30 of those bodies, making 30 teeth on the tool.
18. Polishing
19. I filet the edges of the handles to make them more comfortable to hold. And some of the body to make it round and easy to carry.

These design steps of measuring bottle caps and making teeth can be applied to various sizes of openers, but I decided to make a bottle opener because it's a very common issue, it's very easy to carry anywhere you go, and it's a need at almost any time.

The Grocery Bag Holder has to be:

1. Easy to hold
2. Reduce the strain from bags
3. Distribute and carry a lot of weight

Steps:

1. This design looks like it can be sliced from a cylinder using subtractive modeling.
2. Slicing
3. I measured the palm of my hand to be X. I added a couple of cm to that to make it 11 centimeters. So that it can be versatile for any hand, plus distribute the weight.
4. I also measured the width of my palm to be 6 cm.
5. So I took this eleven centimeters and made it the height of a cylinder, while I made the diameter slightly shorter at 5.8 cm.
6. Since the cylinder was centered around the origin, I took the XZ plane and split the cylinder along that plane.
7. Making a flat face
8. Even though this can be printed vertically, I decided to make a flat face to accommodate those who don't have a tall print bed. And so I offset another plane from the XZ plane and split the body of the half-cylinder.
9. Polishing
10. I filet the top, and the open areas of the half cylinder are made very comfortable for the user to handle. And so it's harder for bags to slip out, and it's easier to put the bags in.

The cylinder height and the curvature can easily be modified to accommodate more bags, but this is a very average-sized handle that's very simple and comfortable.

The goal of this project is to make all of these tools in a kit that you can hand out. This means thin connectors between each other that can break away.

1. Arranging the tools
2. I made a hybrid file where I imported all 8 tools into.
3. I randomly scattered all these tools
4. I used Fusion's align feature to align some of the edges of the models to the surface of the XY plane to make them all oriented the way I wanted.
5. Then I sketched a 10x10-inch construction rectangle, which simulates the Bambu X1C print bed.
6. I then carefully arranged all the parts to save space while leaving enough gaps between them.
7. Making the breakaway connectors
8. I made a sketch on the XY place
9. Here, I am going to draw basic straight lines that connect different components.
10. I start by projecting each body so that it is easy to select the outline
11. Then I draw connections - these connections have to span the entire body of one tool to the other because we made fillets (if only done from one side to the other, the lines wouldn't connect to the tool)
12. Once enough connections were done, ended by making a rough square around all the parts to keep it together
13. Then I THIN extruded the line and made it 2mm as the thickness and height. This makes it rigid enough to hold the pieces together while making it thin enough to snap off.

From here, it was ready to head to the slicer. For testing and showing purposes, I only printed 2 guards but in reality, there would be multiple of these being scattered throughout the kit.

Since I designed and arranged the parts with the 10x10 build plate in mind, as soon as I imported the STEP file into Bambu Studio, I did not need to arrange any parts, and it was technically ready to print.

In the Bambu X1C, I used 15% infill, but this can be changed. Since importing a STEP file keeps the components, it is also possible to change the infill of each individual part for their needs.

Additionally, each print was designed to have no supports in mind, so this made it very easy to print.

The video below shows the end product of the print and the release from the print bed.

As you can see, the print came off perfectly with the breakaway connectors holding all the tools together. There were some problems, such as stringing, but that shouldn't affect the final result.

The following steps will show a showcase of the tool.

The video below shows the use of the Button Hook Aid

As you can see, it is easy to go inside the button slot and hook onto the button. This way, once pulled, the button effortlessly goes through, allowing you to button quickly!

In this video, you can see the pen ball being used.

It is clear that this deisgn is very easy to use and can work on a wide range of stationary.

The video shows me using the Chopstick Aid

As you can see, the living hinge makes it incredibly easy to pick up many different kinds of things.

The video demonstrates the curner guard.

The video shows me converting the sharp edge of a drawer into something protective using the guard.

The video shows me using the Utensil Aid.

As shown, you can see that the cuff fits my hand very nicely and I was able to pick up some of the "food" from the "cup".

The video shows the use of the book holder.

The book holder makes it significantly easier to separate the two halves of the book to 170-180 degrees and I can put way less pressure on it to do so.

The video shows me using the water bottle opener to remove the cap.

You can see that, even though small, the design allowed for easy removal of the bottle cap using the semi flexible body.

The video shows me using the Grocery Bag Holder.

The beginning shows 10 lbs worth of weight from around my house. I first showcase the holder, which seems to have no effect on my hand, and was comfortable to hold. Then I showed without the holder, which revealed the immense concentrated pressure on the hand that the holder solved.

At its core, 3D printing has always been about scaling the access that people have to manufacturing. But this intent is only as good as the implementation.

The Universal Accessibility Kit is a proof of concept for a world where we don't just innovate or sketch out unreasonable ideas. By combining eight simple, mechanical solutions into a single, breakaway print, this project lowers the barrier to entry for both the makers who print it and the individuals who use it.

Designing for a better world does not mean reinventing the wheel; it could also mean taking plausible steps to change what some have into something that everyone can access.