Tag: Designing

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Week 11 – Update the project

This week, we looked back at all the process we have made throughout the semester and planned how to move forward.

The class on Wednesday was mainly broken down into two components. The first component was updating with the Milestones Lab. All the teams reported their progress to the Milestones Lab in team order, and Milestones provided feedback on the updates and the overall design. For groups that were not presenting at the moment, they brainstormed on the material list and resources needed for the upcoming Makeathon event.

The session with Milestones was truly insightful, and we have received much useful feedback. For instance, although we had decided the functions we wanted our design to include, we were considering too many actions that we would like our product to accomplish, and it made it hard to come up with the solution. We had some preliminary sketches, but we were not sure how to make it work physically. However, Milestones provided us with a different perspective; Milestones suggested to us that we didn’t need to consider all the actions users would involve in when they ate with the design at this point. Rather, we could focus on two main actions first and dive deep with the mechanism of the actions. This way, we could simplify our design and enable the product to accomplish the two activities perfectly before we moved forward with other functions and actions. In addition, we could take modularity into consideration. This could accommodate different utensils and shapes of hands. At the same time, it’s possible that we could add more functions and actions easier if the design includes modularity. Another idea that we didn’t consider was not to restrict the model to gloves. Previously, we used the word gloves to communicate the purpose of our product easier. As time went by, we focused on the concept of gloves and didn’t take other forms into consideration. Milestones suggested us to break the restriction and think broader. They also provided us with some pictures of existing pictures. Those helped us brainstormed better.

For the material and resources list, we came up with a preliminary list that we are going to order. It was hard for us to come up with the list because we haven’t finished stretching. We were discussing how to realize our ideas physically during the class and had some potential ways that we would explore later. However, we still need more time to finalize the actual design.

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Make-a-thon

This week we got an introduction to the Make-a-thon. The participants of this event go beyond our Digital Making seminar course. Its expanded to Industrial design students from Dr. Deana McDonagh and Jim Kendall’s course, as well as students from Jeff Ginger’s Makerspace. This pre-event to the actual Make-a-thon gave us a general overview of what was going to take place leading up to the weekend long event. Later during the session there was a panel of a few returning experts and a few new ones. Some new faces were Isaac, John, and Steve. They all spoke about their disabilities and the daily frustrations they face. The panel even discussed some of the unique ways they’ve adapted to make the best of their situations.

John’s sock with three attached loops
Joh’s sock with three attached loops

Above is an image of one of John’s sock. I thought this was so simple, yet very effective. Apart of John’s condition is very minimal grip strength. So task like putting on socks or buttoning a shirt is difficult to him. A simple life hack he came up with was sewing loops on the outer edge of his sock, which he can fit around his fingers and pull on the sock. It crazy to think this is all it took and it making a huge difference.

Steve from the panel also gave us an overview of Clark Lindsey, which is a  premier retirement community for today’s accomplished adults. From the presentation he gave I found there to be quite some opportunity in this specific sector. He put a heavy emphasis on fall prevention. Maybe we can design some sort of new innovative thing around this opportunity.

The last part of the Make-a-thon pre-event was a social portion. This time was for everyone to meet and talk amongst each other. Since we’ve been working on our project for sometime  used this portion to to talk with some of the new experts and students to see if any wanted to get involved. We did meet a potential new team member from Jeff’s makerspace seminar. She seemed very interested in what it was Solestice is trying to do. After this It really just turned into a team meeting where we mapped out what we needed to from the session up until the Make-a-thon itself.


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FabLab 2.0

Inkscape vector file of watch to be laser cut

This week we returned to the FabLab. We continued to familiarize ourselves with all the tools and tech the lab has to offer. We specifically learned a vector editing software called Inkscape. Through this workshop we learned how to create basic shapes, manipulate them, and produce more. After learning the basics of the software we learned to transform images into vector graphics. These skills were then applied to a customized watch. The watch is a device that allows patients who have to do bicep curls and rotation in wrist during rehabilitation. The base of the watch consist of 3 wooden circles, two of which have rectangles on each side. I thought it would be help patients if the watch had small arrow indications of which way the device goes. The top layer rotates, so I designed an arrow pointing in the direction of proper rotation.

3 layered watch with electrical components

After this we moved into sewing. Unlike most of my peers I have experienced sewing. My sophomore year I sewed a jacket with a sleeping bag attachment completely from scratch. So during the tutorials and walkthroughs I was a couple steps ahead. We all picked the fabrics we wanted our wristband for the watch to be and then cut it to scale.  We sew it right sice in and sewed the seam. This created the sort of sack like appearance of the band. Getting it right side out was a hassle, it required us to use these thin wooden rods to pull the fabric through. We finished up by attaching velcro strips to the band to ensure a comfortable and secure fit to the wrist.

Images showcasing the process of sewing and creating the band for the watch

The second half of class each group presented to Milestone Labs and Adam Bleakney. We’ve made a lot of progress since last speaking with them. We got a lot of insight from this conversation. We realized we hadn’t thought everything thoroughly. Our design is solid but we have to really hone in on the attachment aspect of it. The overall ease of use should be convenient for the user. They also asked a lot of questions regarding materials of our device. We are currently scheduling a time to interview a material science professor here at the university. This week I have scheduled a virtual interview with my physical therapy. We also have a meeting this monday with my professor who handmakes shoes. We plan to do a bunch more research structured around our opportunity and project idea.

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Lighting Up the Bulb

Circuits & Arduino

This week, we continued with our learning at the Fab Lab. Instead of working on the motion-sensing watch like last week, I got to work on a circuit and learn how to use a multimeter. Playing around with the circuit reminded me of my elementary school days when I got to tinker around with the flashlight kit and a mini motor car kit in a science class. Though I did not understand the details during then, I still enjoyed trying various configurations to see which one lights up the bulb and runs the motor and which one does not. With the good memory in my mind, I had fun with the breadboard, resistors, and multimeter, trying to figure out how much of a difference each type of a resistor made to the brightness of the bulb.

  • A circuit with resistors, lightign up the bulb dimly
  • A circuit without a resistor, lighting up the bulb brightly

After playing around with the circuit, we were very briefly introduced to Arduino and its capability. Although this technology is probably not what our project group would use, it was interesting to think how such a small component can have so much computing power.

  • Example of how an Arduino is used for a motion sensing watch
  • Top view of the motion sensing watch

Team Rotam Project Ideas

We also got to meet and receive feedback from the Milestone Labs on our idea of the project. They recommended that we look into different materials that would allow our product to protect the joystick of the power wheelchair. For example, they suggested that we look into the scuba diving suits, which I did not even think of. After hearing the recommendation, it seemed so obvious to me that I should have thought about this before, but while brainstorming, it never came to my mind. That recommendation, however, sparked few ideas of my own, such as looking into the materials of umbrellas. Upcoming week, my team is planning on looking more into what is available in the market for the purpose of protecting the joystick of the power chair as well as different types of materials that could be used to protect it from the water.

After receiving the feedback, the team got together to brainstorm further on our ideas. Last time, we were focusing on additional parts that can be added to the wheelchair to serve the purpose of protecting the joystick, but this time, we focused on how we may be able to make our product be applied to different types of power chairs and not just that of Ryan’s. One idea that we came up with was a DIY molding package. We were thinking that if we could provide a DIY molding package to the users, they can customize the part on their own, ensuring that not only will it fit their power chair, but they could add personal touches and additional comfortability with grooves on the mold and so on.

Outside of the Class

Outside of the class, I managed to find time to go back to the lab to laser cut my own face of the motion sensing watch. While designing this face, I was thinking ‘simple is the best,’ which is how I came up with the design below. I hoped to design the face in a way that it would be very simple and easy for the user to understand it.

  • Completed face of the motion sensing watch

Though this face makes clear sense to me as a designer, I am wondering how different people would perceive it. This thought made me realize how challenging designing is, which is why human-centered designing is crucial. Through the constant feedback from the users, the designer can ensure that the end product would be easily used by the users for the purpose that they are looking for. This is something that my team will constantly keep in our mind as we proceed with the project.

While using the laser cutter, I was curious as to what else the device is used for. I discovered that this technology can be used not just on wood but also on other materials, such as glass and acrylic as demonstrated by various objects shown here. It was also interesting to find out that there are various ways to use the machine, such as cutting, engraving, and vector etching, which are explained here. Looking through images of different things that this machine is used for, it amazes me how much of a detail that this machine can handle.

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FAB LAB!!!!

This week I wasn’t able to physically be in class due to some unfortunate circumstances. I was however able to visit Jeff and see the Fab Lab prior to this weeks workshops. I learned of some of the complex filments and advanced 3D printers. I got to know a bit of the staff as well. In terms of class, I was able to get up to speed from my wonderful team members. This week was the start of our workshops through the Fab Lab. The class was given a tour of the entire facility by Jeff Ginger, who is the director of the lab. He gave a presentation during last weeks class. After the initial tour the class was split into different workshops within the fablab. Some people were learning the laser cutter while others built circuits.

After this the class went back into their  groups and brainstormed for the remainder of the class period. The TA also assisted during the brainstorming session given a different prompt every 3 minutes. This helped further our ideation and conceptual prototyping, while designing with an open mind. My group was able to rapidly draw up multiple porttype ideas with the given parameters of the prompts. In case you forgot,  we are developing a shoe tread to facilitate walking on ice/snow (all terrain) for prosthetic users. By the end of this activity my team was able to come up with a MVP. They chose the easiest and most feasible of the concepts that we can make a crude prototype of. By next class we will have a usable prototype of our tread attachment. It will have velcro straps to connect with the shoe and acchatable spikes on the tread.

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Fab Lab: Fabulous Resources for Fabulous Ideas

Exterior of Fab Lab located in Urbana, IL

This was our first of the next three weeks that we will be spending at Fab Lab to learn about various resources that are available to us. Although I have heard of Fab Lab before, I was not aware of what it contains. In fact, I didn’t even know where it was located, so I was very surprised when I found out where it was. It was a small, old-looking building that I passed by daily to get to my classes from the dorm that I used to live in during my freshman year. I always wondered what it was and even peered into it through the windows once, but I never figured out what it was. Walking into it, I was wondering how this place could contain all the high-tech gadgets that the professor was talking about.

As soon as I walked through the doors, I had my eyebrows raised. It was not at all what I imagined the place to be.

  • One side of the wall at Fab Lab displaying different products that are made there
  • Example of a machine that is available at Fab Lab for use
Examples of various products that can be made at Fab Lab

Inside the building was an open space filled with computers, machines, and various types of products that were made at the lab. I felt like a kid who just walked into a candy store, trying to absorb all the different things that I see. From electric cutters, 3D printers, to embroidery machines, there seemed to be endless lines of resources available. Although I was excited to see so many resources, I was also worried about how I could possibly learn to use them for the project.

  • Examples of laser engraved products from Fab Lab
  • 3D printers available at Fab Lab
  • Map of the Fab Lab

After taking a tour throughout the building, the class was divided into two groups to get hands-on learning on a couple of resources available at the lab. This week, I got to participate in an Inkscape workshop. Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor, which can be used to create or edit vector graphics. During the workshop, we got to design a watch face of a motion-detecting watch, which could detect whether the user was performing the bicep curls or wrist twist motions correctly. We were to think of a specific user group and create a design based on it so that the user can use the watch correctly. Although the task seemed simple, it was challenging to come up with a simple, yet effective design. This exercise made me realize how much of a challenge we have ahead of us in trying to design a product that could help the power wheelchair users with preventing the rain from getting into the joystick.

After the workshop, we were grouped into our own teams and got time to brainstorm various prototypes for the team products. The point of this session was to keep the options limitless, even thinking of things that are impossible for us to achieve. For example, while we were brainstorming about what can protect the power wheelchair from rain, we came up with instant heating that dries the moisture, force field, and strong wind blower that can push the water droplets away. Although we understand that these options are not viable, by not limiting ourselves, we were able to come up with more creative ideas that can potentially lead into more feasible ones.

Sketches of various ideas we brainstormed during the session to prevent rain from getting to the joystick of a power wheelchair

In the end, we had to select a couple of designs that were more feasible, easier to implement, and most effective, which we decided were bags to put over the joystick and a mold that can be put over the part. For our next assignment, we will be coming up with a 3D prototype of these ideas. Although the exercises that we performed throughout the week demonstrated lots of challenge ahead of us, I am excited to use the available resources to take our ideas further.