This past weekend we had the Make-A-Thon which was the culminating event of our semester in the Digital Making Seminar. Our team had been working hard all semester to prepare for this event and it was exciting to see all our hard work pay off. We started the semester by meeting our mentors and identifying their needs. We then researched their needs more deeply and began to brainstorm potential solutions. After creating a couple of low fidelity prototypes and receiving feedback from our mentor Jenna and Milestone Labs, our team was ready to take on the Make-A-Thon and make our first high fidelity prototype. Unfortunately, I was out of town this week so I wasn’t able to participate directly in the event, but my team did some awesome work and kept me in the loop throughout the entire weekend!
Coming into the Make-A-Thon event our team worked hard to make sure we were fully prepared. Since our mentor, Jenna, was out of town that weekend, we met with her to take a 3D scan of her prosthetic leg. We then 3D printed the scan so that we could work with a life-size model to craft our prosthetic cover. The scan was so big that it took 12 hours to print and we had to print it in 3 separate parts for it to fit on the printer. We also brainstormed what materials we would need and researched their properties. We were able to submit all of the materials we intended to purchase for Vishal and he was able to get them all for us in time for the Make-A-Thon
Our team started our prosthetic cover by designing a pattern for the part of the cover that protects the shin. We wanted to create a design that would be aesthetically pleasing so that Jenna would actually want to wear it. We created the design on the software in the Fab Lab and then laser cut the design into a sheet of purple acrylic. Purple is Jenna’s favorite color! After we cut the design we need to fit the mold to cover Jenna’s leg. We used a heat gun and the acrylic heater to warm the acrylic so that we could mold it. We also cut the acrylic down the middle and added a hinge joint to it. We thought that this would make it easier for Jenna to take the prosthetic cover on and off.
Our next part of the process involved creating the padding to protect Jenna’s leg during impact. Movi was very lucky to have Yishou join our team for the Make-A-Thon. Yishou is a Ph.D. student in Engineering and has a lot of knowledge about the various tools in the Fab Lab. He was incredibly helpful for using tools and working on designing our prosthetic. For the inner padding, we used the nylon we had purchased to create a fabric sleeve to surround the padding. Sticking with our original theme, we sewed the fabric cover out of purple nylon. After we made the inner cover, we transitioned to the top cover. We used two small pieces of high-impact foam padding to protect Jenna’s knee in case she fell. Her knee has microprocessing capabilities so it is one of the most important and expensive parts of her leg.
Once we had completed each of the components, it was time to put our prototype together and admire our work. Overall, I thought our final product looked great! Luckily, the judges agreed and our team was awarded a prize for the best prototype for our Digital Making Seminar class. I am so proud of all the hard work that my team mates put in during the Make-A-Thon weekend! Our next step is to meet with Jenna and other potential users to test out the prosthetic leg and gather feedback for our next prototype!
I am a Senior majoring in Finance with a minor in the Hoeft Technology & Management Program.
Hey Nathan! I’m sorry you weren’t able to be at the Makeathon either, but it seems like you and your team have made great strides – congrats on the win! It looks like a really cool process to laser cut acrylic then heat it up to be the shape and size you need. I am curious to see how your testing goes to see if you need iterations or if the prototype created this weekend could be a final product. Good luck this week!
Taking notes on this intel