When 3D helps integrate young people in difficulty: LABSud and the Clémenceau second chance school in Montpellier build a three-wheeler

Part of the LABSud team, some representatives of the second chance school and the Orange Foundation, gathered around a project to build an electric tricycle. Florence Guilhem

This Monday, September 16, the LABSud association presented the work carried out with the students of the Clémenceau second chance school in Montpellier. The project was supported by the Orange Foundation.

There is no better opportunity than this Monday, September 16, the day of the launch of the soft mobility week, to highlight the final result of the work of the LABSud association and the Clémenceau second chance school in Montpellier, namely the design and production of an electric tricycle using 3D technology.

It all started with the call for projects from the Orange Foundation “Fablab Solidaire”, with a budget of 20,000 euros. “We only support those who have a link with the associative fabric and whose project has an integration dimension“, recalls Sylvie Meslin Saint-Jean, director of patronage and solidarity programs at Orange.

From 3D to concrete

With its project to build an electric tricycle with students from the school, the LABSud association hits the nail on the head. In groups of 15, the students take turns building an electric tricycle on the premises of the LABSud association. The latter gives them all the necessary parts (most of which are recycled, Editor's note) to build the tricycle. It's up to the students to play “mechanics”.

Since the first version is far from complete, the association helps the students make a 3D model of the electric tricycle, before moving on to its manufacture. “In fact, the project is superior to the realization, because the most important thing is the 3D plan that can be shared all over the world. And it is automatically modular according to the parts that we have available“, concludes Justin, secretary of LABSud. The magic of 3D, we never get tired of it!

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