Last week, we spent all weekend at the Fab Lab, developing our prototypes. Going into the weekend, I was nervous that my team was not going to be able to finish our design by the end of the weekend. On Friday, my teammate, Trevor, programmed an Arduino to detect pressure and enable force feedback. We planned to attach this to our tread so that prosthetic users could see where they are putting the most pressure on their prosthetic and adjust their gait accordingly.
On Saturday, my team examined the materials we had ordered, and realized we didn’t have the materials necessary to create a tread. So, we decided to make a trip to Walmart to pick up a pair of shoes and window caulk. Our plan was to use the bottom of the shoe as our tread and put window caulk (silicone) on the bottom of the tread for increased traction.
When we returned to the Fab Lab with our new materials, we wanted to cut the tread off with a band saw. However, we realize this wasn’t feasible because cutting the rubber would cause a potent odor. So, Brandon from the Fab Lab advised us to create a mold out of the tread and fill the mold with hot glue. When we first tried this, we didn’t put any lubricant on the shoe, so the mold crumbled to pieces.
First attempt at creating the mold. 
Failed mold creation.
On our second try (which also had to be our last since we used all of the mold compound), we successfully created a mold for our tread. Jennifer on my team used two hot glue guns to fill the mold. We knew hot glue was a good choice of material because it has good traction, is lightweight, and is flexible.
We used baby powder to lubricate the shoe. 
Successful mold. 
Jennifer filling the mold with hot glue.
Once the hot glue cooled, we utilized a heat gun to smooth the top surface of the tread. We then attached velcro straps to the tread with more hot glue. We tested the tread on my foot to ensure that the straps were placed well.
Then, by Sunday morning, we attached the pressure sensor to the heel of the tread and finished making our presentation. We then presented to four judges and closed out the weekend we a final ceremony. My favorite part of the ceremony was when the two teams who tied for first place donated the 3D printer prize to DRES.
Later this week, my team met with our mentor, Jenna, to test the prototype. Some feedback we received from her was that she loved the flexibility and traction of the tread. She also mentioned that the tread was very lightweight. One piece of advice was to create two treads, one for each foot, and to make the straps bigger to fit around her shoe. While discussing with Jenna, we realized that another option to improve traction is to put hot glue directly on the bottom of her shoe. That way, the tread is less discreet. Exploring this possibility will be my team’s last steps!
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.
Hi Emma, it’s great to see your team made such a great product! Even though we might fail during the process, if we try our best to fix our problems and try it again, you’ll find everything just work out. It’s a great experience that everyone making efforts on their projects and keep improving them. I think we all gain a lot from the Make-A-Thon. It’s also great to see your team met Jenna and let her try your product. Based on Jenna’s advice, I think you can keep on improving your product. I hope you can make it! Thank you again for your help. Without he elastic strap we couldn’t make our second prototype.
Hi Emma! I found your team’s product to be very impressive. One of my favorite aspects of the class is it allows us to fail multiple times unlike the other usual classes. I enjoyed the experiences too and cannot wait to see what kind of adjustment you will make to your product.