Category: Week8

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Return to the Fab Lab: Week 8

Our time at the FabLab has been focused on making a cheap, interactive watch face that helps doctors measure whether outpatients have been completing their proper outpatient physical therapy sessions. Last week, I learned how to build the electronic circuit in the watch face. This week, it was our class section’s turn to learn how to laser print the watch face and sew the watch strap. After learning these tools, we met with Milestone Labs to receive feedback on our prototypes and then worked with Jenna to begin to design the second iteration of our prototypes.

Learning InkScape

Our first lesson was on the laser printing and etching software InkScape. We learned that InkScape has many different capabilities and we were able to play around with designing shapes and importing silhouettes from the internet. After we gained som familiarity with the tool, we were tasked with desiging an easy to use watch interface that would help user differentiate between the settings for both the “curl” and “twist” exercises. For my design, I decided to orient different arrows to show which way the watch face should be facing to correctly monitor each different exercize.

Sewing Refresher

The next portion of our class was focused on learning how to sew. When I was little my grandmother had taught me how to sew, but that was such a long time ago that I needed a refresher on how to work the machine. However, after a short tutorial, I was able to get up to speed and feel confident in my sewing abilities. One of my biggest takeaways was the improtance of backstitching. Backstitching is when you stitch backwards at the start of your stitch to reinforce the line so it doesn’t unravel overtime. At first, I made this mistake and needed to go back over my original stitch. Once we felt comfortable sewing we were given the assignment to make a watch strap. The watch strap had many steps, but are instructor Duncan did a great job leading our class through them and we all came out with acceptable watch straps by the end of class.

  • Initial Sewing Exercise
  • Fab Lab Sewing Machine

Milestone Midpoint

In our next portion of the class, my team met with representatives from Milestone Labs to discuss our progress so far. The designers at Milestone Labs were happy with our current progress but challenged us to get more user interviews from a wider variety of sources. They recommended interviewing veterans and elderly users and we have worked on contacting different users from these designations this week. They were also impressed with the prototypes we had made and gave a few suggestions, such as th BOA strap, on ways to improve our designs.

Testing and Iterating

Our next step was to meet with our mentor Jenna to test out the prototypes we had created on her prosthetic leg. After testing our prototypes, Jenna told us that while she liked the basic concept of our sleeve design, it would not work because the fabric might interfere with the walking mechanism at the back of her knee. This was an important discovery because it meant that we had to alter all of our prototypes to stay away from the back of the knee. To me, this was a big learning moment that reinforced the importance of prototype iterations and user-centered design. While our original prototype was good in theory it would have failed to meet Jenna’s specifications because we had overlooked an important aspect of its usability. After our talk with Jenna, our team brainstormed and came up with a new prototype idea that hooked on to the top of the knee and the back of her calf. We will work on prototyping this new design and get ready to show it to Jenna again this week!

  • Jenna tests our prototype
  • Sketch of the available surface to attach the cover
  • Fab Lab design that inspired our new prototype
  • An idea for our second round of prototyping
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Round #2 at the FabLab

Introduction to InkScape

After our last week in class having an introduction to the electronics end of our physical therapy watch now we got to work on the watch its self. Firstly, to do this we needed to work on our software skills so we could design the watch. That is when we were introduced to InkScape. InkScape is a program the allows us to model our prints in 2D instead of 3D. This is important because for the laser cutters that we would be using in the FabLab we need to be able to model in 2D for the cutters to understand. After a quick tutorial on the basics of InkScape we were tasked on creating our watch face so the user would be able to know if the watch function was set to measure “twists” or “curls”.

For this, I saw many of my classmate making elaborate text and designs to represent the different functions. I decided when tackling this problem I wanted to make my design as simple as possible. Therefore, I rastered two notched on my watch face so the user could know when its set to twist. The reason I decided to this was that since the product only has two functions I felt the user would gage fairly quickly if it wasn’t in twist mode, it’d be in curl mode.

Introduction to Sewing

One of the coolest things about the FabLab is all the different and creative ways that they can teach us to make the cool amazing products. From the beginning of the semester, I though this course would be respricted to just 3D printing, but what ive noticed is that even 3D printing has its limitations.

After, our introduction to InkScape and creating our watch faces, we moved onto making our straps for the watch. This was really cool because I hadn’t been on a sewing machine since 7th grade so it was awesome relearning this really cool skill. We cut, ironed, sewed, and attached velcro to our staps so we could later attach them to our watches next week.

Meeting with Milestone Labs

We had a very interesting meeting with Milestone Labs. From the week before we felt very prepared as we came to class with 4 separate prototypes to show them. Although they liked our design and I fell like they were impressed with our work the gave us great points of criticism. They first challenged us to go take a deeper look as to what was in the market already. Although we have talked with 2 users of the C-Leg, we really didn’t have too much of an idea of the competitive products in the industry. Secondly, they challegended us to think of what type of material we would be using. Although it feels early in the process the material we choose is a vital part of the success of our project.

After our meeting, we were lucky enough to get the time and speak with Jenna about the comments we heard and to try out our prototypes. After some trials, Jenna gave us some more great advice as to how we could improve our products. We deliberated some more and came to an idea that would be lightweight and be fully protective of the leg and knee area. We had an idea where the guard would latch on the mack of Jenna’s leg and the top of her knee. This design would allow for the product to be protective, lightweight and give Jenna a full range of motion.

  • Jenna trying Prototypes
  • New guard idea
  • Potential design idea

Laser Cutting

Later in the day Wednesday, I returned to the FabLab to laser print my watch face. This was really cool and it provided me a really unique experience to use a laser cutter. There were a few specific specifications I had to make to calibrate the laser cutter but with some help I was able to figure it out. It was a really quick and cool experience and I hope we get to use this technology at some point in our project.

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Quick Prototypes for Milestone Labs

This week, we were tasked with creating quick prototypes from materials we already had to better understand what our sketches from last week would look like in 3D. Our team met in the Art & Design Building to get “crafty”, and definitely started honing in on exactly what to design, especially with feedback from Milestone Labs, Jenna, and Yoga for Amputees founder Marsha Danzig.

We created two prototypes. The first has a pylon attached to a base shaped similarly to a flipper based off the interview we had with Marissa, a yoga teacher at the arc. This would completely replace Jenna’s current foot, which she told us is easily removable with an Allen wrench.

Our first prototype – the white paper cylinder represents the pylon and attaches to the cardboard base.

Our second design was an attachment to Jenna’s current prosthetic and would include altering a yoga mat as well. This attachment is a series of magnets that would provide her stability but definitely not get in the way while she does any floor poses. Our questions with this design definitely revolved around magnets: what kinds of magnets to use? How strong would the magnets have to be to hold her well and still be easy to pick up her leg for one-legged poses on her sound side?

The white paper “foot” in the middle represents Jenna’s current prosthetic – the magnet band would be attachable.

When we brought these two designs to Milestone Labs for feedback, they definitely saw where the designs came from based on our research and were concerned about the magnets as well. They even pointed out that the rest of her leg has metal, so the magnets may be more attracted to that when not on the mat and get in the way. However, they did really like the pylon design. We also showed these to Jenna after class, and she was more comfortable with the pylon design. She mentioned that rather than a “flipper” shape, a circle, with the pylon connecting to the center, may actually give her the best balance! She’s also most interested in having something that could be 3D printed, which we could design for the pylon design but the magnet design would need more flexible fabrics incorporated.

Lastly, we had an interview with Marsha Danzig, founder of YogaforAmputees, after class. She was incredibly sweet and supportive of our project. She gave recommendations regarding the flexibility of our materials and the shape of the base as a circle made sense to her as well. She also reflected on some students in her amputee yoga classes having basic prosthetics created for yoga that resembled plungers. These are not commercially available, but they essentially created them as we are now. The “plunger” bottom was helpful because it had a light suction which increased their stability. This is definitely something we are interested in adding to our design.

Our next steps will be to create a 3D printed prototype to make sure we have the correct measurements and give time for iterations. We also want to talk to Jenna after our discussion with Marsha to get her perspective on the feedback we received.

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Week 8: Second Visit in Fab Lab

Continuing from last week, we visited the Fab Lab again this week. In this week, we were still separated into two groups, and we switched sections. This week, I learned how to build an electric circuit using the breadboard. It could be big, but then it could be very small and use to build a computer. I think this is very important to know about in today’s day, when we rely heavily on electronics. Before this week, I thought that as a business major, I would never get in touch in building an electric circuit myself, since I am not an ECE student. After this training section, I gained a better understanding of how to operate with the tools in the Fab Lab and the potential necessary tools for design.

After the Fab Lab training session, we entered the stage of prototyping. While we were waiting for the meeting with the Milestone Labs, we started planning again for our prototype. We used some other materials to redo our low-fidelity prototype and talked about our concerns on some of the ideas. Afterward, we met with the Milestone Labs together with Jenna. During the meeting, we discussed our project progress as well as our upcoming research plan, a meeting with the founder of the organization Yoga for Amputees. Again, we discussed our initial ideas and our low-fidelity prototypes. In the end, we came to the realization that some ideas we initially have may not be the most feasible idea to have for our product, including the idea of using magnetic tools and the idea of extending the frontal surface of the attachment.

After our team’s meeting with the Milestone Labs, we also met with the founder of Yoga for Amputees, who is an amputee and has a lot of experience working with different amputees across the United States. She provided us a lot of new insights that we had never considered prior to this meeting. She talked about how a relatively fixed ankle and curved heel of the prosthetic leg has contributed to the difficulties for amputees to keep balance. In this case, she suggests us to try to design a product that can allow some curved flexibility to the ankle but at the same time also prevents the ankle from “moving” horizontally (see video). In addition, she also suggests us to design a product with a flatter heel that can allow the amputee to have greater contact with the ground. She also brought up ballet prosthetics that has already existed in the market. We researched the ballet prosthetics and also found that the key to the balance of the ballet prosthetics was the different ankle design that ballet prosthetics have as compared to the normal prosthetics. Also, she mentioned that there would be different needs for different amputees due to the preferences of their prosthetic usage and what makes them feel secure. Therefore, we may be better off if we could talk to different types of amputees to gain what they think about the product so that we could bring customization to our designed product to meet users’ needs. Overall, we gained a lot of insights from the meetings with Milestone Labs and with the founder of Yoga for Amputees. From these insights, we will redesign our prototype and try to get to a more suitable solution.

We got our inspiration of the potential design of ankle from the 3D-Printed pangolins, which will only curve on one side, but will not curve if we turn it to the other side. We believe that this structure of ankle may provide more horizontal stability and prevent falling from ankle bending.
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This week in class we were able to interact with Milestone Labs and we also worked with circuit boards. When working with Milestone labs, for group 1, we interacted with Milestone Labs about the upcoming prototypes. We talked about the many ways in which this project could go when working with designing a tread. Group 1 has the potential of using this invention to work on many different treads and group 1 also started looking at attaching options for the tread. I feel very confident that group 1 is heading in the right direction with their ideas.

For group 2, Milestone Labs was quite impressed with the working prototypes of the knee cover for microprocessor knees. After meeting with milestone, I was able to chat with group 2 about several limitations that I would foresee when working with some of their prototypes, for example, how the knee pad would limit the range of motion for the microprocessor knee. From this information, group 2 was able to narrow down a prototype that they will keep on refining before the make-a-thin (see the first photo below). Group 2 actually made a new working prototype (see second photo) and I am also confident in their work moving forward.

Lastly, for group 6, we collaborated with Milestone Labs and also narrowed down a prototype for the leg extension that would allow increased balance skills in yoga. We decided that working with magnets would be limiting to the user because they would have to bring the same mat to yoga class, and we also didn’t see a way for this prototype to be weight bearing. In class two weeks ago, group 6 retrieving dimensions of the pylon of my microprocessor foot to begin to put together a working prototype. From this, last class group 6 decided they will 3D print their next prototype and make it dense enough for it to be weight bearing for the user. I think this is the smartest, least expensive, and highest accessible route for group 6 and I think their next prototype will be phenomenal. I found this link pretty helpful when learning more about the benefit of 3D printed prosthetics: https://www.prescouter.com/2017/07/3d-printed-prosthetics/

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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.

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Wrapping up the watch project

This was our second week in the Champaign Urbana Community Fab Lab. This week instead of working with electronics, I was a part of the team that prepared the other parts of the watch such as the shell and the wristband. 

Inkscape workshop

We used a programming software, called Inkscape, to design our watch. I previously used Inkscape to do a lot of laser cutting with acrylic so I knew my way around the workshop pretty well. Inkscape allows users to create 2D designs, these designs can be used for anything, but they are most popularly used to laser cut. The pieces of our watch we’re already designed but we had the option to add engravings on the pieces. In Inkscape, if you specify a stroke line to be .10 then the laser cutter will cut through the material but any other number the laser cutter will simply etch the design in the material. This feature is nice because it allows us to add designs that we may not want to cut out. The breadboard that we are using with the tilt sensors will sit in between two of the pieces of the watch and another circle will sit on top with the design that we create.

GIF of how sewing machines works

We also used sewing machines this week. I learned how to sew at a young age, but it has been a while since I’ve sewn, so sewing this week was very relaxing and brought back a lot of memories. We used the sewing machines to sew a wristband for our watch. We started off with a workshop in which we had to follow and sew lines that were marked on a piece of fabric. After that we went throughout the process of picking out fabric, tracing our design on the material and cutting the design out. After that, it is common practice to iron a piece of fabric that is being folded so that it is possible to work with a flatter surface. Therefore, we folded the fabric so that the good sides were touching, we ironed the fold flat and then we sewed a seam along the edge. After we sewn the seam, we had to turn the band right side out, and then we sewed Velcro on the band. The Velcro is so that the band can be adjustable for all wrist sizes. 

Sewing workshop

At the end of class, we also had to present to MileStone labs. My team got good feedback regarding how we can alter our project. I am really enjoying the hands-on aspect of this class. When I was researching this class, I was drawn towards the fact that it was different from other classes that I’ve traditionally taken at this school. I learn better by being hands-on, so it was fun to experiment with some of the software and machines in the fab lab.

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Week 8 Reflection – Learning more tools and reflecting on the project

This week, we continued learning new tools and heard feedback from the Milestone Lab.

At the first half of the class, we focused on studying new skills. Similar to last week, the session was broken down into two groups, and we went to the section that we didn’t go to last time. In the beginning, we learned Inkscape, a software for creating and editing vector graphics. We studied how to create basic shapes and how to manipulate them to produce more shapes. We also practiced how to use existing pictures to transform into vector graphics. Then, we learned how to alter stroke and fill to differentiate the parts that we want to cut and the parts that we want to etch. After learning the skills, we applied them to design the customized watch. Because this watch would be for personal use to show caring and love, I chose to include a heart image to etch. In addition, since it would be relatively easy to confuse the top and the bottom, I decided to etch a letter B on the base. In my spare time, I went to the Fab lab and got the pieces laser cut.

Laser cutting
The watch

After the laser cutting lesson, we then worked on the sewing machine. This was the first time that I used a sewing machine, so the experience was new and unique for me. In the beginning, it was hard to even twine the thread following all the steps as well as threading. Gradually, after I practiced the basic one, I got more used to the speed of the sewing machine and the whole process. When I worked on the strip, I was able to finish it quickly.

The strip

In the future, I think the knowledge that I gained from those would be beneficial for our project since we are planning to do more prototyping to test the design. One useful resource I find online for more advanced skills for Inscape is at this link. It talks more about how to create different types of paths and how to alter paths. For instance, one can use “Ctrl + K” to combine paths to a compound. This technique can be useful if one wants to create holes in the design as well: by combining overlapping paths with fill, the overlapping area’s fill would disappear. I plan to explore more on this site to acquire more skills that are applicable to our project.

At the second half of the class, we presented to the Milestone Lab about our project progress and received insights from them. Up till now, we have decided on the area that we would like to focus on moving forward, but we were not sure how to approach the features that we wanted the product to be able to achieve. Thus, Milestone suggested us to consider the flexibility the users wanted and to consider the usage of the glove in the actual context. For instance, before the utensils get connected with the glove, where it needs to be placed so that the users can be able to put the glove on by themselves. Also, when the utensils get connected with the glove, how many degrees the users would want. All those are factors that we need to take into consideration in our design, and I think they are all excellent starting points.

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Arduinos

This week’s session in the FabLab was especially exciting for me, since I had missed the inaugural week. We delved right in by working with Arduinos, breadboards, and LEDs. You could say it lit up the room. Personally, I had a cool reconnection with a colleague who I had not seen in 11 months who just happened to be an employee at our local FabLab.

Nonetheless, our updated design challenge is oriented around electrical engineering as we are looking to create a sealant for power wheelchairs to prevent the wiring of the steering handle from getting soaked in the rain. This causes malfunctions and deteriorates the wheelchair significantly faster. I do not expect us to do any wiring, however it is beneficial to discover which electrical components are currently most at risk.

Milestone Labs also gave us a plethora of great insight. They recommended looking at wetsuits, boating, fishing, and general aqua activities for inspiration. We were also directed to look at motorcyclists and how they remain protected when riding in the rain. Other general sealants will also be important for us to look at.

Since our main purpose is now to prevent electrical damage from water leakage, the filament of our 3D print is also a vital factor. We need to ensure that the filament would not let water penetrate the electrical circuit.

I believe the biggest challenge will come with customization. If the steering handles are different based on model, then we will most likely need to create 3D printed molds for each model. However, if there is a limited amount of variation then scalability will prove to be a negligible issue.

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Fab Lab Round 2

Fabrication

We returned to the Fab Lab to continue learning about different types of fabrication! Last week, I created a circuit that made an LED light illuminate. This time, I had the opportunity to design the surface of a watch for outpatients who are required to perform exercises like bicep curls and twisting their wrist.

First prototype of the watch that will track movements during the patient’s rehabilitation exercises.

The watch is made of 3 pieces of wood. The top piece can spin by 90 degrees in order to detect the movements for the 2 different exercises. We were first tasked with designing the top of the watch, so users would know which way to spin the watch while performing each exercise. Utilizing the software program, Inkscape, I drew 1 arrow on the top of the watch along with the text, “TWIST,” and another arrow on the bottom of the watch with the text, “CURL.” Thus, the user would know which way to spin the watch when performing hand twists versus bicep curls.

Here you can see me practicing using Inkscape.

After designing the surface of the watch, we sewed straps for the watch. Using sewing machines, we first practiced on a sheet of fabric to get used to the machine. Once we got the hang of it, we began sewing the straps for our watches. We initially sewed the strap inside-out, then use a stick to help turn it right-side-out. Lastly, we sewed velcro onto the strap so the watch user can adjust it to the size of their wrist. You can see pictures of the process below!

  • Practicing sewing on a plain sheet of fabric.
  • Line we followed when sewing on the plain fabric.
  • Turning the strap right-side-out with the stick.
  • Learning to sew with classmates!

Project Progress

During the second half of class, each team took turns presenting our project to 2 of our mentors, Milestone Labs and Adam Bleakney. We shared the progress we have made since we first spoke with them. From our conversation, we realized that we need to narrow down our topic and start conducting more secondary research on what already exists for shoe treads and attachments. Also, it is necessary for us to speak more with Jenna, our user, about her desired experience with the tread, i.e. if she would need to sit down when taking the tread on and off. From here, we are going to conduct more secondary research and speak with a Materials Science professor, physical therapist, and a shoe maker so we can gain insight on where we would like to focus our project.