Tag: makerlab

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Semester full of Digital Making !

Wow the semester has flew by. I remember taking my disability design course and being heavily encouraged to take this course from my professor Dr Deana McDonagh. I heard countless success stories and instantly got interested. I remember the entire process  of sending a resume and asking access from the instructor. It made the course feel even more official and selective. I wanted to take the course because it could present even more fabrication resources and help me in product development in my startup.

Expectations…

Initially I didn’t necessarily know what to expect. From the course description I thought maybe the the class would be very hands on and explore various methods of fabrication. Even with these little to no expectations the course don’t over promise anything. The course itself wasn’t perfect but it was an overall great experience. It challenged us to think outside the box and look at what we usually consider problems as areas of opportunity for innovation. The structure of the course prompted us to use the parameters set and essentially work through things, which allowed us to learn even more. This style of teaching could go one of two ways. The class could be way to lose, which causes confusion and lack of understanding of expectations. Or it could be how this course went and really give students the opportunity to explore, fail, plan, and execute on an idea.

This course further enhanced some fabrication skills I already have and taught me some fairly new ones as well. As an industrial designer I’m constantly doing project and solving problems. Design thinking, user centered design, empathic design are all things this course subtly hinted in throughout the semester. The workshops enabled us to gain new skills and learn processes. Many of, if not all the guest speakers, provided meaningful insight throughout the semester as well. There are so many takeaways from this class.

Solestice

I was partnered with two bright young women from the college of business. I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We had a great dynamic and right away knew what we wanted to do for the remainder of the semester project.Through the many conducted interviews and mentors stories we gravitated towards Jenna. She shared with us the story of a time where she slipped on ice immediately after exiting her car. This happened all because she can’t wear boots due to the heavy nature of them. This prevents users like Jenna  and other prosthetic users from wearing them as their residual limbs are not strong enough to carry the amount of weight the boot has. This is where Solstice was birthed. We aimed to figure out a way for Jenna to increase traction without adding adding additional weight to her shoes. Our main goal was To create an attachable, lightweight shoe tread that can be used to travel in a variety of terrains.

Low Fidelity Prototype

My group and I brainstormed countless times trying to figure out how to make this idea into a real thing. We’d sketch  ideas and somehow came up with the thought of incorporating spikes ( like in track shoes) it would help with traction. Unfortunately after creating a low fidelity we realized that our user may be required to take said device off when walking indoors. We also wanted to make it as easy to use as possible, while providing a comfortable fit we thought to use velcro. This set us up perfectly to further ideate on this idea and create our very own functioning prototype at the makeathon.

At the Make-a-thon itself team Solstice focused on three main components of creating this product:  Arduino, molding, and attaching. The arduino portion was super cool and challenging. It was my first time coding and working with circuitry. Essentially this would add a unique tech factor to our tread that would allow users to have a sense of force feedback. From research we found prosthetic users have issues shifting weight which can lead to gaits abnormalities. This small pressure sensor would give them that data and in term help prevent this from happening. The design itself was fairly simple. We coded an Arduino Uno to illuminate LED lights that indicated pressure being applied. To create the pressure sensor, we sandwiched a piece of foam with two pieces of copper. Ideally, we wanted for there to be three lights, each indicating where the user is putting pressure on the tread. This would enable the user to ensure they are putting enough weight on their prosthetic to maximize stability.

In terms of creating the tread it we wanted to use a molding compound. This would allow for a lightweight thread, but ensure a grip tread form that resembles that of your regular high traction shoe. We created a mold of a shoe outsole. During this process, we coated the shoe in baby powder and mixed the molding compound to a viscosity similar to pancake mix. We held the shoe down until the mold dried. Following, we used a hot glue gun to fill in the mold with thermoplastic material. After the mold was completely filled, we used a heat gun to smooth the top of the sole, making sure the edges were slightly taller than the inside of the sole. The thermoplastic material we used was similar to silicone and, per our research, is a material that creates enough friction to prevent falling on ice.

For the sake of time and resources we opted to utilize velcro for our attaching method. It wasn’t the worst choice but also wasn’t the best as it came with its own constraints.

Overall I really did enjoy this course. From the challenging nature of it to its looseness it was a great experience. I got to learn new and exciting skills. I got to meet some amazing people. Most of all I got to make something with newly found campus wide resources. I’ve really grown as a individual because of this course. I find myself a better teammate. The collaborative portion of this course really ties teams together and promotes all hands. Hopefully you’ll see a team Solstice sole on the market. We really did nurture this product and can’t wait to see it reach its full potential. Never stop making!


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The Journey Continues…

Thinking back to the time when I was applying to be a part of the course, I realized how far I have come since then. I remember being excited yet nervous about taking the course. As someone who lacked self-confidence in my own technical abilities, I was looking forward to learning different skills, such as using a 3D designing tool and 3D printing a product. However, I was nervous that I would fall behind. You can see how nervous I was from the post I wrote in the past. Little did I know then that I would be spending hours taking a lead in cleaning up 3D scans and printing them for the team by the end of the semester.

Before the course began, I didn’t know what to expect from it. All I wanted was to gain more technical skills that I can continue to use even when the course wrapped up. However, I quickly came to realize that the course provided far more than the hard, technical skills.

Upon hearing the stories of the mentors, I realized that the course is very unique in the sense that it has many opportunities to leave an impact on society. That’s when I began to develop my desire to do something more than simply developing technical skills. Even if I could not complete an idea by the end of the semester, I wanted to leave an idea behind that other people can be inspired by.

Since the course had a main focus on developing ideas around the subject of accessibility, it was critical for us to understand the process of designing and developing prototypes. This was when I learned about the term “design thinking” or “human-centered design.” I realized that this idea can be applied to everywhere in any profession, not just in the space of designing. By constantly keeping the customers/clients in mind and being open to their feedback, you have the best chance of providing something for their needs. This is one of the most valuable ideas that I learned from the course.

As we continued to learn about different skills and qualities necessary to be successful at developing ideas, such as failing early and often, we began to learn the technical skills that I was looking to learn as well. Unlike my worries, I was able to absorb the information quickly and even take a step beyond what was taught in the course.

I remember the first time watching the 3D printers at work in awe as my work on the computer came to life in a tangible form. Although I have always wanted to try it before, due to the lack of confidence, I kept on convincing myself that I don’t know how to do it, so I never have until this point. This class allowed me to break the barrier and become comfortable with the idea of exploring the unknown.

In addition to the 3D designing and printing programs such as Fusion 360 and Ultimaker Cura, I also learned other skills that I did not expect, such as using Inkspace, laser cutting, sewing machine, and Arduino. I also discovered Fablab and its resources, which I am interested in exploring further in the future. I did not realize that we had access to such resources nearby and I am grateful to have met even more amazing people who are ready to help with anything within their capabilities.

The real fun began when I was able to apply these skills to develop my own idea with the team. We faced many challenges throughout the semester from trying to figure out the opportunity we wanted to pursue to making advances in the prototypes. However, we continued to push through and persevered in the end.

Through the Make-a-thon and a couple of weeks after the event, we were able to develop on the prototypes rapidly. It was amazing to see how quickly we were able to make advancements during these three weeks. I was even more surprised to discover how much I could do with Fusion 360 and Meshmixer to 3D print the scan. This experience built my confidence in my abilities to learn and apply the technical skills.

Wrapping up the project, I cannot believe how much I learned from the course. Not only have I gained more technical skills than I expected, but I also learned about different ways to interact with people of varying needs and mindsets. It was also very exciting to be able to see other people’s passion and to watch their ideas become tangible products. I never considered myself an innovator and did not think that I would have an opportunity to work with people of varying backgrounds to develop on a new idea, but this experience demonstrated to me that I have what it takes and I just need to dive into it, past the self-doubt stage. This course has really allowed me to build the self-confidence and passion that I need to pursue after different opportunities beyond my comfort zone. Not only am I excited to see where this experience will lead me to, but I am also looking forward to seeing everyone else continue to grow and reach their dreams!

Thanks everyone for such a wonderful semester! Also a big shoutout to the mentors and judges who provided so much valuable inputs and feedback!
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Week 11!

This week was the final stretch before the week of the Make-a-thon. Class began with Professor Vishal clearing up everything regarding the Make-a-thon. The expectation and resources available during this event were explained. Once Vishal finished up we were given a presentation from social innovation representative Valerie. Valerie introduced to the class an opportunity to continue furthering their innovative ventures, while receiving non dilutive funding. This opportunity is provided by a program called the iVenture Accelerator. Which is a startup incubator. It’s a 10 week summer commitment and a full academic year seminar course. Participants receive $10,000 of funding and stipends throughout the summer. They not only provide this funding but have a pool of resources ranging from experts to additional funding opportunities. I am actually apart of the iVenture Accelerator. They really dive deep and help further your idea. They’ve introduced us to so many useful/helpful people. It’s really like a family. They bring you along and you become apart of this amazing ecosystem.

After Valerie’s presentation we met with Milestone Labs to give them an update of our progress to date. My team and I are team Solstice (team 1) so we went first. The folks at Milestone gave some good feedback and advice. They were delighted with our interviews and direction we’re going in. One thing we didn’t do was provide as much of our product as possible. We still have to do more sketches and ideation around a few key details regarding our product. From this meeting my team and I reconviented to brainstorm, reflect, and conduct a list of materials we need for the actual Make-a-thon. As a team we found this material called hydrophilic rubber, which is usually used in winter tires. We have a meeting with a material science professor to give us even more insight on materials and such. Also I have a professor who is a shoe cobbler on hi own time and he pointed us to a few materials as well. None the less we’re super excited for this event and our more refined product prototype!

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Fusion 360 Workshop

This week we focused on the CAD software, specifically Autodesk Fusion 360. Prior to class this week we learned quick shortcuts and the basic fundamental of parametric designing. Dan Banach, education program manager at autodesk, gave an immersive presentation of the world of Fusion 360. He has more than 30 years of Fusion 360 knowledge. He was there from the very start. It all started with a 3D model of a five and quarter sized floppy disk. Dan also simply broke down the ideology of the cloud product innovative software Fusion 360, into three main components: use, design, and make. After his intro  we had the task of going through a tutorial of creating a phone charging stand. This helped us get even more familiar with the functions and capabilities of the software.


Dan Banach during the Fusion 360 Workshop

I myself have some knowledge and previous with CAD. However its with solidworks, which is a lot different from Fusion 360. You have similar capabilities, but solidworks is far more complicated. I like how simplified Fusion makes computer aided design. The shortcuts and keys were super easy to pick up on and the drop down menus house every function. Solidworks took me some time to get a stable grip on. Both softwares are great in their own respective ways. Regardless of which a person chooses you’ll still get a understanding of not only parametrics but design thinking. The software gives you a different method of approaching problems and design decisions. The simplest thing from a curve to the material itself of the product all attribute to the overall product.

My final design and render of the phone charging stand

After the Fusion Workshop ended we were given another on “How to Statements”  from our TA Mehmet Aydin. This activity allowed us to further explore the centralized themes within our ideas. After choosing the top three themes, which we wrote out in concise sentences, we created a how to statement. Essentially staging  a question of how were were going to do some of the things we sought out to solve. Like mentioned in last week’s presentation his is a cycle within the design process. We came to conclusions last week, but this exercise allowed us to revisited, rethink, and revitalize some of those ideas. I feel like now we have a pretty concret grip on the opportunity and the market in which we’re trying to infiltrate.