Hello!
Go Baby Go! Milwaukee received the following email from First Ride On. We are excited by the thought of a commercially available option for children and families but would want to ensure that it is going to be a good, safe, and affordable option for children. Before we even open discussions with FRO, we were curious if any other groups had experience with this company and would recommend engaging with them?
"I hope this email finds you well.
My name is Esmond, and I manage Strategic Partnerships at First Ride On (FRO). We have long respected the impact achieved by the Marquette Go Baby Go chapter in providing independent mobility to children with special needs.
As part of our 2026 roadmap, First Ride On is looking to establish formal partnerships with top-tier university chapters to co-design and co-engineer an “Adaptive-Ready” system. Our goal is to combine our industrial manufacturing capabilities with your department’s biomedical engineering expertise to establish new, safer hardware standards for pediatric mobility.
We have developed a high-level conceptual framework based on our RAM Ride-On Truck platform. Rather than delivering a rigid, finished product, we want to invite Marquette’s engineering students and researchers to help us shape and test three core pillars outlined in our attached blueprint:
- Adaptive Control Hub (Multiple Device Interface): Pre-installed USB/DIN ports to seamlessly connect joysticks, button arrays, or sip-and-puff devices, eliminating the need for invasive rewiring by your team.
- Extendable Back Rest & Head Support: An adjustable seating structure to provide proper trunk and cranial stability for children with diverse physical positioning needs.
- Snap-in Protective Padded Panels: A secure, sanitary, and snap-in alternative to the traditional foam noodles currently used by volunteers during custom modifications.
Our Proposed Next Step: FRO is prepared to ship a few standard RAM Ride-On Trucks along with our baseline engineering data directly to your Marquette lab as a pilot donation for the upcoming Fall term. Your students can use these vehicles as a canvas to help us test, iterate, and co-develop these adaptive features.
If your chapter is open to evaluating our technical specifications or participating in this co-design pilot for the Fall term, please let us know by replying to this email. We are ready to coordinate all logistics and documentation entirely via email.
Thank you for your time and your dedication to engineering better mobility solutions.
Warm regards,
Esmond
Strategic Partnerships, First Ride On