This week at the Fab Lab, we finished making the last part of our watches. As a reminder, the watch is for outpatients who need to perform arm exercises, such as bicep curls and wrist twists. We used Arduinos to sense the movements of the watch.
The materials that came in the Arduino kit.
A Fab Lab employee teaching us about the functions of the Arduino.
First, in order to familiarize ourselves with Arduinos, we used attached wires and an LED light into the Arduino. Then, we plugged the Arduino into the computer and uploaded code to it in order to illuminate the light.
Uploading code to the Arduino.
Lighting up the LED on the Arduino.
Once we felt comfortable working with the Arduino, we removed the LED and added a tilt sensor. As we learned 2 weeks ago, tilt sensors can detect orientation, positioning, and inclination. Adding this to the Arduino will allow the watch to detect when the outpatient user is doing their exercises. The code that Brandon, one of the Fab Lab employees wrote, detects the movements and reports them to the computer. Then, we put the wooden parts, the Arduino, and the strap all together to make the watch.
The last part of the class was dedicated to creating storyboard for the users of our teams’ products. This was my first time making a storyboard, but it led to great insight on the user experience. It will help us gain a more complete understanding of everything that we need to take into consideration when designing our tread. You can see the storyboard my team briefly came up with below.
Hi there! I am a Senior studying Marketing and Information Systems/Information Technology. I chose to take this course in order to expand my creative and design thinking skills that I can apply to my future career. I am grateful that we are provided the opportunity to take this course as Business majors.
A bittersweet moment occurred this week when we realized we
will not be in the FabLab space again. These 3 weeks were filled with
exploration, innovation and assimilation into a working space that mimics an
adult playground. The hours flew by in the FabLab as we finally wrapped up our
projects and finalized our watches, utilizing laser cutters, Arduinos and more
in the meantime. It was an extremely insightful experience which reminded all
of us business majors at how technically incompetent we truly are.
Later, we broke up
into our teams and began storyboarding our user experience. We walked through
each necessary step that our target user would have to go through in order to
utilize our product correctly. A user manual will most likely need to be provided
since any mechanism which protects the power chair joystick will need set up
and an attachment.
We’re on spring break right now and are at the stage of
conducting market research to find a product-market fit and exploit it once we
get back. April is going to be extremely busy as we have a make-a-thon in the 2nd
week which is supposed to expedite this product development cycle.
I’d be lying if I said overwhelm wasn’t starting to creep in. As a second semester senior I am slated with 3 group projects, and a venture which I am taking through COZAD so it is especially difficult to dedicate the necessary time to excel. All 4 projects require damn near full-time attention which makes it unfeasible and very difficult to cater to each of the requirements. Something I’ve already realized is that the business curriculum needs to push more of these group projects to freshman and sophomores before the older class begins to start developing a stronger sense of autonomy.
After 2 weeks of prep in the FabLab this was the time when we are able to put all of it together. As a reminder in the first 2 class sessions, we learned how to build and construct a circuit and learned how to laser cut and design in ink scape. When we arrived to class we we introduced to some pieces to help make a circuit board to operate our watch. After a brief introduction we started working with a program to help tell our watch what to do. We did a couple exercises we programed our circuit board to pair with the tilt sensors so our watch an work. After we learned and downloaded out program, we went to work on our assembly. Honestly, I thought it would be worse than it was. After we super glued the circuit board to the bottom part of the watch it all just started to come together. I was incredibly fun after just a quick 3 sessions at the FabLab we were able to conceptualize and make this product.
Storyboarding
For the remainder of the class, we broke off from making the watched into our project teams to storyboard our product. We began with u users and wanted to highlight Jenna. We saw the next step was to raise awareness on our product through word of mouth mostly. Thirdly was to picture the initial purchase of our product which we saw to be done at a department sports store like Dick’s. We then needed correct descriptions of how to use the products best. Next, we depicted the user first putting on the product and transitioning them to a product they use every day. This was a great exercise that helped us lay out the timeline was looking for our product down the road. I think that this helped us gain perspective on our product and begin to lead us in the right direction.
My name is Ryan Kane, and I am a senior graduating in the spring of 2019 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Gies College of Business. I have a double major is both Supply Chain Management and Information Systems and Information Technology.
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!
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.
This week our class was at the Fab Lab again and we put all the steps to our project together and finally created the working prototype. The product we were prototyping was a watch that is meant for users who are recovering from an injury and need physical therapy. The watch can monitor if a person is actually doing their practice by using motion detectors to detect both an arm twist and curl. In the previous weeks, we learned how to use the arduinos, designed our watch facer using the laser etching machine and sewed a strap for the watch. Now, finally all of that work came together.
We started by programming the Arduino and the two tilt sensors. I had used an Arduino previously but, I had never previously used a tilt sensor and I found this very interesting. We were able to test our code and when one of the sensors was activated the binary code changed from 0 to 1. Below are pictures of this step.
(Picture posted is sideways… I’m sorry I don’t know why this keeps happening!) Here you can see the Arduino being programmed with both tilt sensors!
Next, we started putting the watch together including all 3 separate wooden pieces and the Arduino. I think what was really interesting to be about this was how easy it was to attach the Arduino. We simply used a piece of a glue sticker! I think that because the Arduino is a computer I thought it needed to be completely covered to keep it safe. I realized this isn’t the case and its actually a lot easier to prototype with simple computers than I previously imagined!
Here you can see the Arduino in between the watch faces and held down with two zip ties. The whole at the top of the watch face allowed for the tilt sensors to reach through.
Continuing on with finalizing our watch face. We added on the top layer which held our designs. As I mentioned earlier mine was designed with an athlete in mind. It was meant to be sleek and stylish. I would love feedback though on which symbols you guys think are supposed to mean twist and which symbol is for curl. When I was designing this I thought it was very clear but then I showed my design to one of my friends and he guessed the opposite of what I originally thought. The two symbols are the “curl or spiral” and “ribbon or zigs”!
Here is the watch face top. The spiral I was referring to is under the tilt sensor and the ribbon is the other symbol. Please comment down below which you think is twist and which is curl!
Here is my final watch with the strap attached! I am super proud to have made this prototype and can’t wait for our make-a-thon after spring break!
After this activity, we started creating a storyboard for our projects. My group struggled with understanding how the storyboard would relate to our project idea and products. We are the team working with Arielle to improve an athletes grip during bad weather conditions. We hadn’t really considered selling our products so we weren’t really sure where a user would purchase our product from. However, we decided it would make most sense if Arielle sold our product on her website along with the gloves!
Due to the low image quality and fact that the images keep uploading sideways I will only post the first page of our storyboard.
Moving forward, after spring break we will be reaching our to Dr. Goodman to meet with him and learn about different materials. We will also be working with Elisa’s sculpture professor to understand how we could create a groove in the current hand rings. She said her studio definetly has tools we can use we just might need some training before using them! Also, we are all going to try to finalize which idea we want to pursue for the make-a-thon and meet with Arielle.
We met at the FabLab again this week. It was awesome to see out watches finally come together. In the last class we laser cut the watch parts as well as designed the watch face. During this class we learned how to code an Arduino Uno board to count the number of curls/twists through a tilt sensor. We were directed how to assemble the final parts as well as test out the software. This was my first time ever coding! I have had an amazing time at the Fab Lab learning all sorts of new skillsets. I will be coming back to use the resources and staff!
After we completed out watches we got together with our project groups. In our groups we story boarded aspects of our product. We started by creating a profile for Ryan. Then we created a story board of what happens when Ryan goes into the rain in his power chair. Finally how other power chair users will hear about the product.
This week a few of my team members and I were able to meet with Dr. Mcdonagh. We got some great insight as well as encouragement. I plan on making a mood board to show Ryan to get a better understanding of his aesthetic taste and desired direction.
This week in class we went to the Fab Lab and finally finished the watches that we have been working on for the past three weeks. In our first class session, I learned how to build a circuit with an arduino. In my second class session, I designed the top of the watch face with Inkscape and learned how to sew the watch band. This week we put all of these skills together to make a finished product. We started the class by learning how to code on the arduinos. We learned how to flicker an LED light and how to use a tilt sensor to change the computer output depending on the orientation of the tilt sensor. Using the arduino, tilt sensors, zip ties, and 3D etched watch face we were able to assemble the watch with the help of the fab lab staff. One thing I found very interesting was that the creator of the watch in the Fab Lab changed a few components from the original to design for the design we created. This helped reinforce the notion of how important it is to iterate in multiple prototypes to get the best possible design with the easiest possible steps. The final product also showed me how easy it was to build a complex product using simple inputs.
Building the watch
The finished product
Storyboarding
The next part of the class we spend storyboarding the user experience for our product prototype. This portion of class had to be shortened slightly because we experienced a few difficulties putting together the watch in the time allotted. Our first panel of the user journey focused on the user itself. We spotlighted Jenna and the things about her that made her unique. The next step of our user experience was raising awareness. We thought that our product would primarily be advertised through word of mouth and through online advertisements and social media. The third step was the initial purchase of the product. We hypothesized that our product could be bought at a hospital through a doctor referral, online on our website, or at a specialty sports store such as a Sports Authority. Our next step was the first introduction of the user to how the use the product. This would most likely happen by a doctor at a hospital or a store aide at a sports store. The next step is the user’s first use of the product alone. This experience focused on the user’s first time putting on the product by themselves and any complications they might have. Our 6th panel was the transition to everyday use and it showed how a user would become comfortable with the product and the protection it offered. The final step in our user journey would be referring the product to a friend. We hope that the user would be satisfied with our product and would want to recommend it to others.
This week at the FabLab, we finished our watch prototypes! It was really great to see all of the pieces we had worked on over the past few weeks come together. First, we coded our Arduino Uno boards to give certain outputs at certain positions based on the tilt sensors. Once programmed, we assembled the strap, bottom, top, face, and board all together! It was very fun to see the output on the computer and see everything working perfectly!
Code on Arduino Uno BoardAll elements of the to-be completed watch.
Overall, the time at the FabLab this week was very successful. After the watch, we created quick storyboards. Our storyboard showed the closeness of the amputee community. Overall, from our discussion with Marsha, it was very clear that amputee communities are fairly close even in big cities like Chicago. At one point or another, she had met a ton of the amputee women in Chicago through yoga classes and speaking events. We wanted our storyboard to show this, so we demonstrated a woman like Jenna going to a yoga class with our design, and showing another amputee yogi where she had gotten it. Having our design as an open source design, the power of community could spread this design to anyone who needs it. They could customize the design as needed for them and go to a local FabLab or library to 3D print the file. This type of accessibility on the affordability side is exactly what we are looking to provide!
Snapshot of our storyboard.
Moving forward, our team is looking forward to finding people at our Tuesday event to help with our capabilities. Since we do not have an industrial design major or engineer on our team, our Fusion360 experience is limited. We are hoping that we can find some people to join our team who can bring our designs to life!
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