Author: AJ Poe

Salutations! I'm a sophomore studying accountancy who likes to create some art on the side (yes, I'm one of those photographer/poet/all around artist people). My passion is in advocating for equity, and I probably spend a little too much time on Hulu. I am a part of Team Solestice with Trevor Sibby and Emma Bradford.
Posted on

Project Solestice: A Tread With Soul

THE BIRTH OF SOLESTICE.

Almost everyone has, at one point in their lives, experienced the pain of slipping on black ice. This could be a story that your friends constantly make fun of you for, or a silent embarrassment you keep to yourself (and your neighbors who saw the whole thing). Slipping on black ice is definitely something that conjures a vivid image in everyone’s mind, and it was for this reason that our team felt such a connection with Jenna when we first interviewed her. The first time we met our mentor, Jenna Fesemyer, was during a large group interview our class conducted at the Disabilities Resources & Education Services (DRES) building. Our entire class was present to hear Adam, Arielle, Jenna, Ron, and Ryan talk about their frustrations. Jenna shared with us the story of a time where she slipped on ice immediately upon exiting her car and lamented the fact that she could not even wear boots for more traction in situations like these. We found out that the boots heavy weight prevented Jenna and other prosthetic users from wearing them as their residual limbs are not strong enough to carry too much weight. During our team discussion the following week, we decided to try to find a way for Jenna to increase traction without adding to much weight, and Project Solestice was born. Solestice’s goal is to create an attachable shoe tread that can be used to travel in a variety of rough terrains, with our first focus being on icy terrains.

First meeting/interview with our mentors.

A RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY.

Throughout class, we worked on different parts of the prototyping process, conducting interviews, researching different materials and methods, and defining the challenges and opportunities that inspired us. Solestice identified four opportunities: 1) prosthetic users cannot wear heavy-weighted shoes (like boots), so we will make an attachable tread that is optimized to be lightweight; 2) prosthetic users often fail to shift their full weight on their prosthetic leg, so we will use arduinos to create force feedback; 3) prosthetic users may have difficulty putting shoes on, so we will use elastic and design an easy to use mechanism; and 4) prosthetic users prefer an aesthetically pleasing design, so we will use lightweight, translucent material to make the tread less conspicuous. With the four identified opportunities, we took to the time to interview our mentor who is a prosthetic leg user, Jenna Fesemyer; a materials science professor, Matthew Goodman; and a professor who is also a shoe cobbler, Salman Raheel. Through this process, we found out that thermoplastic material is both lightweight and has enough traction to be effective. We also brainstormed many ways to attach the tread onto the shoe. At first, we believed that having spikes on the tread would help the most and made a low fidelity prototype based on it, but we ran into a problem when we realized that the user may have to take the tread off when walking indoors.  The stage was set, and all we had to do was wait for the Make-a-thon event to start creating our very first functional prototype.

Our low fidelity prototype.

MAKING IT OUR OWN THING.

During the Make-a-thon, the work we did on the prototype could be broken down into three sections: Arduino, molding, and attaching.

Arduino

For the Arduino portion of the prototype, we coded an Arduino Uno to illuminate LED lights when a certain amount of pressure is put on the tread; in other words, we created a basic Arduino based pressure sensor. To create the pressure sensor, we sandwiched a piece of foam with two pieces of copper. Ideally, we wanted for there to be three lights, each indicating where the user is putting pressure on the tread. This would enable the user to ensure they are putting enough weight on their prosthetic to maximize stability. The data collected from the tread could also eventually be collected and viewable in an app.

Molding

Using a molding compound and a cheap shoe we bought, we created a mold of a shoe outsole. During this process, we coated the shoe in baby powder and mixed the molding compound to a viscosity similar to pancake mix. We held the shoe down until the mold dried. Following, we used a hot glue gun to fill in the mold with thermoplastic material. After the mold was completely filled, we used a heat gun to smooth the top of the sole, making sure the edges were slightly taller than the inside of the sole. The thermoplastic material we used was similar to silicone and, per our research, is a material that creates enough friction to prevent falling on ice. Ideally, given more time, we want to be able to create the tread design ourselves with the information that we learned from Prof. Goodman on which type of tread design would be most effective for black ice. However, due to the time constraints of the weekend event, we made do with created a mold from the materials on hand.

Attaching

Due to time constraints, we attached the tread via Velcro. While we are not completely satisfied with this method, we were constrained by our budget, time, and materials. Ideally, we would like to use a clear, elastic material to follow the aesthetic we have already created. We will expand upon this more when we talk about testing, however, we are definitely aware that one of our biggest opportunities for further improvement is to research better, more aesthetically pleasing attachment methods. We want to find an attachment method and material that is easier for users to put on than Velcro. One way to possibly do that is to have less straps than we currently do with elastic material so that the Velcro mechanism is not too difficult a barrier.

First Prototype

Our first prototype was created from thermoplastic material and attached via three Velcro straps. In the back, we attached an Arduino which enables force feedback. This gives the user the opportunity to analyze where they are applying the most pressure and adjust accordingly. The tread weighs about 1.198 lb with a sneaker (0.598 lb individually), compared to the about 2 lb weight of a regular snow boot.

TESTING OUR METTLE.

Following the Make-a-thon event, we were able to test our prototype on three users: Jenna Fesemyer, our mentor and a prosthetic leg user; Jennifer Clifton, our Make-a-thon teammate and a person with brittle bone disease; and Kim Harden, an elder. While not all our testers were prosthetic leg users, they were all analogous users who would have a use for a tread like this. The feedback that we received was that while the tread itself did its job, the straps were difficult to put on, and the Arduino should probably used as a diagnostic instead of a daily part of the tread. While the tread had incredible “grippy”-ness, we along with most of our testers, felt that it was still a little bit too thick, and that during production, there is an opportunity that we need to identify where we can thin out the tread and make it even lighter. Furthermore, during testing, Jenna told us that she felt that because of the strap and how difficult that is to put on, the tread is not something she felt could be used every day. So, just like an umbrella, Solestice’s tread has a problem where if the user forgets to bring the tread out or wear it during icier days, it will not be of use. Some ways that we have thought of to try to improve this problem is to make either make the attachment mechanism easier or find some way to adhere the tread directly onto the shoe. Finally, Jenna thought the tread aesthetic looked very cool, and Kim thought it made her feel younger.

THE FUTURE IN OUR PALMS.

As mentioned before, there are several ways in which we would like to improve the prototype of Solestice treads.

Researching Even More

There are many topics that we have to do more research on. First, we want to confirm that the thermoplastic material we used is the material that can give the best traction. Next, we want to do even more research to create our own design to optimize the tread for black ice. We know from our interview with Prof. Goodman that a tread with a larger amount of surface area would be the best for black ice, so ideally, we would design something similar to the tread pattern of a winter tire. Furthermore, another idea that we want to look into is either adapting the tread or finding a material to make the tread shock absorbing in order to decrease the weight of the shoe for prosthetic leg users.  Finally, we will be researching into whether it is possible to incorporate some type of cushioning for further comfort in the tread attachment without having to sacrifice the weight of the tread.

Business in the Long-Run

If we can raise enough support for Solestice treads, we feel one of our best options would be to partner with a shoe company. With this partnership, we can engineer a method of attaching the tread directly onto the shoe so that users of the tread can always have the tread on. Alternatively, more information from a partnership with a shoe company could give us data that allows us to create an easier, less complicated attachment contraption. Furthermore, we would gain more information on shoe designs in order to optimize our tread design. Partnering with a shoe company would also give us access to mass production machines, allowing us to create molds more efficiently, better control the thickness of the tread (thus making it thinner and lighter), and customize the tread aesthetics (offering more colors and aesthetic designs).

Additionally, the Arduino portion of the tread, once shrunk to be more compact, can become a separate product marketed towards physical therapists who help prosthetic leg users, the elderly, anyone else that has unstable footing, and even athletes. Through this, we can track data on where people put pressure on their feet and understand more on how that affects posture and other health areas. Eventually, an app tracking this information can be created and the data analyzed to help prosthetic leg users better trust their leg, the elderly understand how to stabilize their footing, and athletes where to put pressure when running or participating in other activities to achieve the best result. Said data could be sold to sports coaches, medical professionals, and other researchers. This data can also help people with lesser problems, such as duck feet.

To see our final presentation on Project Solestice, click on the following link.

To see our Instructable (detailed instructions on how to create our prototype), click on the following link.

This post was co-authored by AJ Poe , Emma Bradford , and Trevor Sibby.

Posted on

A Designed Journey

EXPECTATIONS.

In terms of expectations for the course, I thought that there would be a lot more tool training and 3D printing involved. Instead, our time was split evenly between team prototyping and tool training. While I knew about the prototyping project, it was both less structured than I expected and more involved than I thought it was going to be. On one hand, we were given the guiding information and assignments to go about prototyping our ideas, but on the other hand, a lot of the initiative was left to our own self to start conducting outside research and interviews, start tool practice and learning, and start networking and testing our prototype.  I had honestly expected the course to “hold our hands” a little bit more than they did, but I am very glad that it did not. In the end, I was able to learn more about the way that I tackle large projects without much guidance as well as learn more about design thinking and the prototyping process. Before, startups were a bit of a mystery to me, a buzzword many people use in business talks, but going through the prototyping process helped me truly understand what a startup does and how difficult that process is.

Another aspect I had not expected was how closely we worked with DRES. I had expected a course about digital making, especially a course housed within the Gies College of Business, to be more bottom line focused in their innovation themes, but the accessibility work and disabilities focus we had in class was a nice surprise. Having done some disabilities advocacy – albeit more on the mental health side rather than the physical disabilities side – before, being able to work in this field put me a little more at ease. It was incredible to see the real impact that our prototypes had on real people at the end of the course.

Group Interview at DRES with our mentors

To see a more in-depth break-down of what the first few weeks of class were like, read the following blog posts:

COMMUNITY + OPEN SOURCE RESOURCES.

It was really cool to be able to learn how to use a multitude of new programs within this class; the program I was most excited about learning was Autodesk’s Fusion 360. My brother took a 3D printing class our senior year of high school, and I was always fascinated by the projects he brought home to show our family. As a result, I was both anxiously anticipating and incredibly excited to work with 3D modelling for the first time during this seminar. Upon completing Lars Christensen’s Fusion 360 tutorial that we used to familiarize ourselves with the Fusion 360 program, I felt really accomplished and inspired to explore 3D modelling further.

Left: 3D printed phone holder, Right, from top to bottom: Fusion 360 file for phone holder, 3D printed box from Lars Christensen’s tutorial, 3D printing in process of Solestice logo

It was around the completion of our introduction to Fusion 360 that we were introduced to a community resource on campus: the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab. For such a compact space, the amount of resources available there was incredible! I was so surprised that we had so many resources available to us as members of the Champaign-Urbana community, and yet, not many people knew of these resources. One of my goals after this class is definitely to let more people know about the plethora of resources we have available to us here in CU. During our three weeks at the CU Fab Lab, we completed a culmination project which taught us how to use Inkscape, an open source vector program similar to Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, to create laser engraving files; create code and build Arduino programs and other electrical configurations; and use a sewing machine on various types of textiles. Overall, it was a really cool experience that allowed me to familiarize myself with new tools and gain new ideas on what types of innovation could be used to help me create my prototype.

Upper row, from left to right: Sewn watch strap, laser cut & engraved watch face, in-progress watch assembling, Arduino electrical component; Lower row, from left to right: Arduino code, finished exercise watch

For more detail on what the tool training experience was like for me, feel free to reference the following blog posts:

PROTOTYPING.

As part of the prototyping process, we went through many different concepts related to design thinking. First, we learned about human centered design and empathetic design, which really appealed to me. Before, I thought that innovation and prototyping design was only for the random moments of inspiration where someone looks at a problem and is struck by the inspiration to find a solution to it in order to make money. However, we were taught that wording is another important aspect of designing and that we should think of our prototypes not as “solutions to problems” but “ideas for to fill an opportunity,” something that we can use to help people with. We also learned about diverging during the brainstorming process and then converging back upon a decided path to take a prototype idea. Through this process, I was confronted with my indecisive nature. Although I had subconsciously known this, I had not realized why I was so indecisive. Yet, during the prototyping process, I realized that I was indecisive because I feared the failure of arriving at the wrong answer. I disliked choosing a path, preferring inaction over actively choosing wrong. Taking this course has really helped me realize that about myself, and I now try to challenge myself in my daily living to make quicker decisions, to choose a path rather than being crippled into inaction. I am learning to trust my instincts and gut feelings a little more than I did before.

One example of this was the iterations that lead to the drastic changed between our (Team Solestice’s) low fidelity prototype, our Make-a-thon prototype, and our post-testing prototype. In the first prototype, we were thinking of using metal spikes as a source of traction, and we committed to the idea. However, upon further research, before we even got to the Make-a-thon event, we realized that it was not feasible, that it would be even more of a problem for a user to have to take the tread off and put it back on every time they switched between walking outdoors to indoors and vice versa. And here we thought we had the correct idea. Yet, after we tested our prototype with a prosthetic leg user, post-Make-a-thon, we realized once again an opportunity for change. We realized that the tread was too heavy and the Velcro too visible. So, we switched gears once again to look at being able to apply the tread directly to a shoe. So, it was through this course, our prototyping project specifically, that I understood an opportunity for myself to learn to face failure head on, to learn to be okay with the fear of failure, and to keep working, regardless.

Left: Post-Testing Prototype (3rd), Upper Right, Low Fidelity Prototype (1st), Lower Right: Make-a-thon Prototype (2nd)

For more details about the preparation I undertook with my team for the Make-a-thon event, take a look at the following blog posts:

This course has taught me so much, not only about the different innovation tools available in the market right now, but also about myself. I have grown not just in marketable skills, but also as a person, and for that, I am incredibly thankful that I took a chance, braced myself for failure, and applied to be a part of this course.

Posted on

All Final Checks Completed & Anticipation

PREPARATIONS & LOOKING AHEAD

We started this week’s class with Vishal reviewing the Make-a-thon schedule in case any of us were confused or missed the Pre-Night Event. Following that, he introduced us to Valeri, a representative from Social Innovation @ Illinois. Social Innovation @ Illinois is one of our Make-a-thon’s Gold Sponsors and is funding the appearance of our mentors from Milestone Labs during the weekend of the Make-a-thon event.

Valerie also spoke to us about an opportunity to continue our innovative ventures during school while gaining funding and several experts as resources: the iVenture Accelerator. iVenture is a start up incubator that takes the form of a 10 week internship over the summer and a seminar class for a full academic year that allows participants to further develop their startup. The Accelerator provides $10,000 of funding to the startups chosen as well as stipends for its members to stay on campus over the summer. Throughout the internship and the class portion of iVenture, supplies its entrepreneurs with funding, experts, networking opportunities, and more. My teammate, Trevor Sibby, actually went through the iVenture Accelerator with his startup, Nouvo, which I mentioned last week.

THE LAST CHECKPOINT

Once Valerie finished up her presentation, we had time to work in our teams while we, team by team, met with Milestone Labs for a final project update review and advice session. My team, Solestice, went first. During our review with Milestone, we talked through our new thinking for our prototype. While before, we were thinking of using metal spikes for the tread, we have since then moved onto the idea of using a type of material similar to what is used on winter car tires, which have incredible traction for driving on ice and snow, as the main component to our product. While we have also considered a couple other materials, such as a shape memory alloy, we will be meeting with a materials science professor soon to confirm which option would be the best to use for the Make-a-thon event. We had also considered a couple of other attachment methods aside from Velcro, such as snap buttons. Oded from Milestone actually shared a YouTube video with us which has given us another method to consider – one where the user can simply step into the tread. Milestone also pointed us in the direction of considering the whole experience of using the tread, including what happens if the user falls down, whether or not the user has to take the tread on/off when travelling outdoors/indoors, as well as a keeping in mind the wear and tear of shoes. Overall, it was a very productive and positive meeting.

Once we finished up talking to Milestone, Solestice moved onto brainstorming the types of materials we would need at the Makeathon in order to complete our prototypes. We found out that winter tires are made of a material called hydrophilic rubber, so we tried looking around for something similar. However, since none of us are science majors, we struggled a little with reading all the scientific chemical names thrown at us in our search. In the end, we decided to go with trying to use a bicycle tire as a similar material to the winter tire and explaining to the Make-a-thon judges what our ideal product would include. Next, we looked for sites where we can obtain Velcro, straps, and other methods of attaching the tread with the goal of testing these different methods during the Make-a-thon to see which is the easiest for the user to use.

We are all super excited and cannot wait for the Make-a-thon event we will be attending next weekend!

Posted on

Preparation Is Key

THE PLAN.

This week, instead of regular class, we had a Pre-Event for our capstone Make-A-Thon event. At this event, we previewed our schedule for the Make-A-Thon weekend and got to meet some new mentors and participants. All three classes participating in the Make-A-Thon were present (which includes Vishal’s Digital Making class of which I am a part of, Dr. McDonagh’s Accessibility + Design course, and Jeff Ginger’s Makerspace seminar). During the night, we had a panel of wheelchair users talk to us about what people with disabilities really wanted out of the Make-A-Thon – a chance for innovators to learn to use empathetic design, include humanizing language in their vocabulary, and create tools which can help make daily living easier. They are not asking us to solve particular “problems” or find “solutions” to the difficult aspects of their lives, rather they want to take the opportunity to collaboratively innovate with us.

The panel itself, included Adam Bleakney (one of our mentors and Coach of U of I’s wheelchair racing track team), Isaac (an U of I freshman), John (an U of I sophomore), Ryan Wilson (an U of I alumnus), and Steve (a representative from Clark-Lindsey). Each member of the panel described to us some frustrations they had with their daily living and helped us understand more about the disabilities they had as well as what sort of innovations they have created as a result.

Below is a picture of what all of John’s socks look like. He has attached three loops because his condition means that he has no grip strength in his hands. With the help of the loops, he is able to independently put his socks on via putting his fingers through the loops!

Additionally, not only did Steve tell us about his own experiences, but he also related to us the experiences of the residents of Clark-Lindsey. Clark-Lindsey is a local retirement community that Steve works at. At Clark-Lindsey, many of the elders have problems such as dementia or pre-Parkinson’s disease which makes some daily living actions difficult, such as walking (and therefore tripping often) or not being able to hold a phone steadily (which makes Facetiming family and grandchildren difficult). Steve talked us through the most common difficulties and proposed that those without a current project help out with some of them. Although I am already working with my team on our attachable treads, one quick idea I had thought of was to use a music stand to help those with trembling hands hold a phone, tablet, or book still for use.

The final part of the Pre-Event had us mingling with the other students as well as the new mentors to create some project ideas. As we already had our own project that we have been working on throughout this semester, my group ended up having a team meeting about the extra research we would need to do in the upcoming days in order to be fully prepared for the Make-A-Thon event. We also talked to a prospective new team member that is a student from Jeff’s Makerspace seminar.

DIGGING AROUND.

Since we did not have a formal workshop class this week as we usually do, I want to also recap some of the other learning that we are doing in class that has not been mentioned before. We have a class forum on a site called Yellowdig where each member of the class can post news articles about the different innovation tools we come across in our lives. This could be extra research on anything we have learned in class that we were particularly interested in or even just articles relating to maker culture and current innovations. In the past week, I have posted a couple interesting articles I have found online. One article was about Odyssey Innovation, a company that makes kayaks out of sea plastic and the other was about Stanford and Apple Watch’s research.

I found these articles interesting for a couple reasons. First, for the article about Odyssey Innovation talked about using a business model as a tool for promoting recycling. While I would like to believe the best of people, the current amount of recycling being done is still not enough – whether this is due to a lack of time, lack or caring, or lack of accessibility. However, if a business model were used, I can see that being enough of a motivator to increase the amount of recycling being done. It is an interesting concept that I think should definitely be explored further by activists.

Next, the Stanford and Apple Watch research was interesting to me in that it is a possible way to make medical information more readily available. While Apple is adamant that their products are not medical grade and therefore cannot give completely accurate results and should not replace doctor’s visits, the application of Apple Watch in sensing irregular heart rates seems to be something that can help discover early indications of heart problems and give users a heads up as to when to visit the doctor. I feel like there could be some really cool applications for the medical field to explore in conjunction with Apple, and I hope that they continue to develop their research.

Finally, one article that my classmate and fellow Solestice teammate, Trevor Sibby, posted was actually about a startup that he is a part of: Nouvo. Nouvo aims to create a smart pacifier that can sense the pH level and temperature of a baby’s saliva in order to help discover problems earlier rather than when symptoms start to show themselves. It is incredibly inspiring to work so closely with someone who is working on technology with such potential.

Posted on

Watching It All Come Together

ASSEMBLING.

This week we finished our three-week project at the Fab Lab to create an exercise watch that is able to sense whether you are doing curls or twists correctly. This project was designed so that we would have to use as many of the Fab Lab’s tools as possible, and it was an incredibly interesting way to familiarize ourselves with these resources. This week’s portion of the project included coding the Arduino and assembling the rest of the already created parts. To recap, we used a laser engraver to create the wooden parts of the watch, where we created our own designs to both differentiate between when the watch is sensing curls or twists and to make the watch more interesting for a specified consumer base. Next the watch strap was sewn using one of the Fab Lab’s sewing machines. We also connected tilt sensors and wires to the Arduino. Finally, while we were provided with the parts, the holder for the tilt sensor (the little white thing in the images) was 3D printed from the Fab Lab’s 3D printers. It was really gratifying to finally see three weeks’ worth of work culminate into one final project! These multiple tools have also got me thinking on different applications that we could possibly use in our own prototyping projects, and I’m even more excited to explore the opportunities.

TELLING A STORY.

With the remaining time after the watch assembly, we congregated in our groups and storyboarded the experience that we wanted users of our product to have. This included how the user would find out about, attain, and learn to use our product. As a review, I am a part of Team Solestice, and we are creating a detachable tread that would allow leg prosthetic users to walk on ice while minimizing slippage. We created 7 storyboard boxes in total. The first box identifies who we think the users of our product would be, in Solestice’s case, this would be leg prosthetic users. The next box identifies how the user would find out about our product, which Solestice believes would be through either some internet ad or word of mouth from social media. Following, we showed the prosthetic user going to a store to see the product in person, and possibly asking the store clerk more information about how the product works. The fourth box includes the user watching a YouTube video, which would be uploaded by Solestice, on how to put the tread on, take the tread off, etc. In the next two boxes, we have a prosthetic user putting the tread on by themselves and walking fearlessly over ice without slipping. In the final box, we have the user taking the tread off once they have entered an indoor area and storing it easily. This is the vision that we as a team have for Solestice, and we hope to make it a reality!

Posted on

Copious Continued Concepts

FURTHER FABRICATION.

This week, we continued to work in the Fab Lab, familiarizing ourselves with the tools through mini workshops. This time, I was with the group that was learning the basics of Arduino and working with breadboards. As someone who has not touched an electronics kit since middle school, I felt quite out of depth. However, with the guidance of the Fab Lab staff, it was interesting to relearn how to use a multi-meter as well as the basics of electronics creation. The most exciting part was when the staff told us about their personal interests, explaining how GPS systems work (discussing a little on wardriving) and informing us that time is actually kept through the vibration rate of certain quartz stones!

Outside of class time, I have been diligently catching up on the parts of the workshop that I was unable to finish in class due to the lengthy tour last week. I went and finished up my watch design and got it laser engraved, which was definitely a very cool experience. Before the next class, I will also be heading to the Fab Lab to learn how to use the sewing machines and create the watch strap and will update this post with the pictures once that is done.

  • a blurry picture of the laser engraver in action

PROTOTYPE PROGRESSION.

This week we had a chance to meet with Milestone Studios and our mentor Adam Bleakney once again for them to assess our progress with our prototypes and give us advice on which direction to take our research. We summarized our research progress and Milestone Studios quizzed us on the direction we were taking the project. They asked us a lot of questions that made us rethink our current project plan and helped us realize the areas that we needed to gather more research in. While we were focused on making a tread, we had forgotten to consider what materials we would want to use to create the tread as well as whether or not our current design would be most convenient for users. To this end, we plan on talking to a Materials Science professor to further our knowledge of where a tread’s grip comes from as well as continue to brainstorm different, easier ways to attach the tread. I have also started looking into some of the physics related to our problem (such as considering the physics of sliding on ice and looking into friction coefficients between different materials). I have also started brainstorming how we can use the knowledge we’re learning at the Fab Lab in our project, such as using Arduino to create a motion sensor to predict falls. I have found an Instructable on an Arduino PIR motion sensor, which my team can use as a starting point in researching how to modify it to sense a falling motion rather than just motion in general.

Posted on

New Resources: A Fabulous Lab

FAB-TASTIC.

This week, we got a formal introduction to the Fab Lab. The director of the Fab Lab had previously been a guest speaker in the class, but this time we had a chance to host the class there and use their facilities. We first started with a tour of the place and the different tools they had there. They first went through their policies for use, which was surprisingly accessible. Most tools were only priced at $1 for use, and they allowed people to use their own materials while also having some for sale.

In terms of the tools, the staff went through the multiple applications of the electric cutter, which could not only be used to cut vinyl stickers, but also precision paint things if the knife part was replaced. Next, they showed us the screen printing and embroidering/sewing areas. They also introduced us to the concept of 3D printing on top of meshed fabric, which has been used a lot in the fashion industry recently (seen green scales picture for an example). Next, they showed us the milling, soldering, and electronics area, where they showed some applications, such as milling your own circuit board or working with microcontrollers. Finally, they brought us to the 3D printing and laser engraving workstations. Overall, it was really inspiring to see all these different technologies consolidated in a single area as well as to hear about many of the different projects that have been created at the lab. I was shocked to find out about such an untapped resource that I had not known that I could take advantage of as a resident of the Champaign-Urbana area.

FABRICATION IN PROGRESS.

After our brief but thorough tour, we were split into two groups to attend workshops run by the staff of the Fab Lab. I attended the workshop relating to using the laser engraver as well as the program used to vector model what we want to engrave, Inkscape. Inkscape is an open source program which is quite similar to Adobe Illustrator and allows people to vector model their illustrations; I found it really fascinating that the Fab Lab intentionally uses a lot of open source software so that when they teach people how to use their programs, the skills will continue to be applicable outside of the Fab Lab.

Within Inkscape, we started modelling an exercise watch made out of wood which would be able to track if outpatients are performing their exercises correctly. There will be motion sensors inside the watch, where if the face is facing one way, it would detect bicep curls and facing another way, wrist twists. We first modelled the watch face together while the instructors introduced us to the program, and once we started to become more familiar with Inkscape, the staff released us to add our own designs to the watch. We were instructed to keep the user base in mind and make our unique designs while thinking of certain groups, such as children or elderly outpatients.

With the last 45 minutes of class, we started brainstorming prototypes for our team products. While brainstorming, our TA Mehmet wanted us to think of new ideas quickly, never spending too much time on a single idea. We were instructed to brainstorm in different rounds with different restrictions. For example, one round we had to think as if we had a $0 budget, another if we had an unlimited budget, and yet another if we had to think of our product with children in mind. In the end, we then had to decide which prototype we thought would be the most feasible, easiest to implement, and most effective and decide based on individual team members’ decisions which prototype to make a crude 3D prototype of. In the end, Solestice decided to go with a sole that is attachable by Velcro strips to a shoe, and we will be making this prototype before the next class.

Posted on

A Fusion of Knowledge

THE VIEW FROM THE STUDENT’S DESK.

This week, we dived into using a CAD program called Fusion 360. First, as part of preparation for class, we read through some of the program’s guides and watched a video that walked us through creating a lidded box. In the process, we had our first introduction to Fusion360’s interface and built upon our 3D modelling experience from using Tinkercad as we had before to being able to use Fusion360 as well. In terms of complexity, Fusion360 definitely seems like a more complex program that we can use to create a wider range of models more efficiently than Tinkercad, and I was incredibly excited to be moving along in the 3D modeling learning process.

  • Original Model Created
  • Materials Application
  • Mesh for 3D Printing

For class this week, we got to attend a workshop by a representative from Autodesk. During the workshop, we were taught more about Fusion360 and learned more quickly and thoroughly through the guidance of the representative than we would have if we had set about messing around by ourselves. Throughout the process, we created a phone holder as a project which would allow us to explore many of Fusion360’s features. The versatility of Fusion360 was really fascinating to me. Although this is a relatively small feature which may not impact the modelling process as much as other sketching and creation tools, I found it interesting that we could change the different materials that we were modelling as well as model painting and enameling the model at the end. There were so many different combinations possible, and it is even capable of rendering a 3D model within a couple set backgrounds and lighting settings to simulate possible real-life locations. Additionally, the Fusion360’s feature that allows you to go back to each individual action and edit it without destroying any processes you have applied to it afterwards is going to be incredibly helpful in future projects. Afterwards, we were able convert the model to an STL file and 3D print our first model ever. I really felt a sense of accomplishment in being able to hold something that I created and modelled from scratch myself.

  • The phone holder in use.
  • A view of the phone holder’s bottom.

DEVELOPMENTS IN PROGRESS.

During the last hour of class, we were able to touch based with our TA and mentor, Mehmet, and he helped guide us through developing further along our project ideation process. We first quickly reviewed the concepts we had gone over in the previous week before moving onto creating insight statements based on the themes we had created. These insight statements describe challenges for the people in the community that we interviewed based upon each of the themes. For example, one insight statement Solestice came up with was “Stigma of looking different affects the [prosthetic] user’s self-confidence.” After gathering our thoughts with these insight statements, Mehmet introduced us to the idea of “How Might We…?” Questions. These questions are meant to be created neither generically nor too specifically and can be used as ways to think of our project goals without getting tunnel-vision with a single solution idea. One of the questions Solestice came up with was “How might we increase stability for prosthetic users?”

Our only other update on the project is that we are in the process of scheduling an interview with a professor who makes shoes in his free time to learn more about a shoe’s design functions and how we might use those design aspects to our advantage with the tread we end up creating.

Posted on

Two Roads Diverged, And I Made Peace With The Idea Of Not Trying Both

INFO-MANIA.

This week, we had four presentations: one from a Sneha Subramanian of Illini Service Dogs, John Hornick (author of 3D Printing Will Rock the World), one from Jeff Ginger of the CU Community Fab Lab and the Illinois Informatics Institute, and one from our TA Mehmet Aydin. In line with our focus on human centered design, Illini Service Dogs (ISD) had some ideas, specifically about improving disabled people’s ability to independently work with service dogs, that they were hoping to collaborate with us on. John Hornick gave us incredible insight on the meta-trends within the 3D printing industry. The three main trends that John has observed to be true of the 3D printing industry are: 1.) 3D printing spurs innovation 2.) 3D printing increases democratization and 3.) 3D printing is all about customization. John informed us on the many different groundbreaking 3D printing projects going on all around the world in pretty much every field you could think of, and it was really inspirational to hear about all these success stories and incredible innovation. I was especially intrigued by his mentioning of research in bioprinting replacement organs, an idea that I had actually looked into six years ago for a high school biology assignment. Listening to John’s presentation reminded me of all the different angles we would need to look into for our project but also reminded me of the endless possibilities – opportunities – that we have when working with 3D printing.

One of our four presentations: Mehmet teaching us about how to go about thinking while we create our product.

The next presentation was from Jeff Ginger, whose high energy and excited gestures were refreshing after absorbing so much information in such a short amount of time. Jeff let us know about the network of Fab Labs as well as the amazing resources we have available to us at the CU Community one. It was kind of shocking to realize that there were so many resources available to us as UIUC students that I did not previously know about! Jeff was really passionate about his work, and he had a way of talking that makes you want to quit whatever you’re doing and pursue fab lab creations full-time immediately, just from listening to him.  The passion that we saw from him for his projects is definitely something that I will remember and make sure that I also feel in any future projects that I work on. I want to be able to be someone who can inspire others to take a chance based purely on the energy from my own passions – just as Jeff did for me.

CONVERGING ON FEAR.

When Mehmet gave us his presentation, he taught us about design thinking. he mentioned the idea of diverging and converging, and then repeating the process. Through this, I learned that I personally find the converging process difficult. I love coming up with new ideas and the many different possible ways we can implement an opportunity, but my indecisiveness and lack of confidence in my own creative abilities tends to show when I have to make a decision on which one to proceed with. In other words, I often let the fear of failure and ‘doing something incorrectly’ get in the way of my decision-making process. This was something that I have always known about myself in the back of my mind, but never before have I had to confront it head on like this. It made me grateful for the insight of my other group members, the mentors of this class, and the course itself for giving me an opportunity to grow not just in knowledge but as a person. This is not a problem that will be solved by one presentation, but finally being able to acknowledge the problem is a start.

  • Solestice’s brainstorming session result.
  • Stories & Experience framework that we worked off of.

Besides personal growth, Solestice was able to analyze all the information we had gathered so far. Through the Stories & Experiences framework we were given, we were able to break down the emotions and the facts of our project. Being able to visualize information like this was really helpful in showing us which direction to take our tread attachment idea. We will definitely be using this method to organize all future thoughts on new information we acquire in the future, especially since we have just set up an interview with a teammate’s professor who makes shoes in his free time. Overall, this week was a week of confrontation and growth, of diverging from expectations and converging on a direction to take our project.  

Posted on

Progress Doesn’t Always Mean Walking Forward

LESSONS FROM THE FIELDS.

This week, we were back at the Maker Lab solidifying our inspirations and ideas. We were able to confront a collective fear together: failure. Many of us had expressed fear of failure, and while I had not done so publicly, it was a thought that has always been floating around in the back of mind too. We had the incredible opportunity to talk to an UIUC alumnus, Mike Hansen, from EarthSense, a startup dedicated to using autonomy, software, and innovation to revolution agriculture data collection. Mike came in prepared with stories of failure after failure to share with us, and he showed us how failures stacked up into successes and solutions. He showed us how failures can be unintentional successes with the way that the camera guard he made only allowed the camera to be installed a single way, which later became a needed feature when considering different assemblers of the TerraSentia he designed. It was one thing to be told to “try again and again until you succeed,” but hearing Mike’s actual experiences helped make it click for me. I realized that it really was okay – and actually expected! – to have failures in the process of innovation.

Mike Hansen telling us about failures and different innovation mindsets.

TINKERING AROUND.

After, Mike’s talk, we split off into our groups to discuss a team name, the direction our product will go in, and a team logo. My team, previously Team 1, had a very difficult time coming up with a name, and cycled through various varieties of OnTread, Solestetic, other obscure words, etc. Yet, eventually, taking inspiration from a previously vetoed name, we settled on the name Solestice. Solestice is a portmanteau of the words ‘sole,’ referring to the bottom of a shoe, and ‘solstice,’ an astronomical phenomenon that occurs twice a year. Our hope for this project is to create an attachable tread for prosthetics users to use when walking on ice and other similarly slippery terrain. Afterwards, we created a logo which resembles two triangles stacked upon each other, slightly misaligned and familiarized ourselves with the Tinkercad program through modeling said logo and 3D printing it on one of the machines present in the Maker Lab.

MOVING.

As we wrapped up our team name, we discussed a plan to meet with our mentor Jenna, a prosthetic user, once again to make sure that the direction we take our product in is user-centered and truly something prosthetic users can and want to use. We will definitely take the new mindsets we have learned throughout each class – that of user-centered design and not viewing failure as a taboo – and apply it to our own research and development process!