Tag: smartwatch

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Culmination at the FabLab

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.

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Fab Lab Round 2

Fabrication

We returned to the Fab Lab to continue learning about different types of fabrication! Last week, I created a circuit that made an LED light illuminate. This time, I had the opportunity to design the surface of a watch for outpatients who are required to perform exercises like bicep curls and twisting their wrist.

First prototype of the watch that will track movements during the patient’s rehabilitation exercises.

The watch is made of 3 pieces of wood. The top piece can spin by 90 degrees in order to detect the movements for the 2 different exercises. We were first tasked with designing the top of the watch, so users would know which way to spin the watch while performing each exercise. Utilizing the software program, Inkscape, I drew 1 arrow on the top of the watch along with the text, “TWIST,” and another arrow on the bottom of the watch with the text, “CURL.” Thus, the user would know which way to spin the watch when performing hand twists versus bicep curls.

Here you can see me practicing using Inkscape.

After designing the surface of the watch, we sewed straps for the watch. Using sewing machines, we first practiced on a sheet of fabric to get used to the machine. Once we got the hang of it, we began sewing the straps for our watches. We initially sewed the strap inside-out, then use a stick to help turn it right-side-out. Lastly, we sewed velcro onto the strap so the watch user can adjust it to the size of their wrist. You can see pictures of the process below!

  • Practicing sewing on a plain sheet of fabric.
  • Line we followed when sewing on the plain fabric.
  • Turning the strap right-side-out with the stick.
  • Learning to sew with classmates!

Project Progress

During the second half of class, each team took turns presenting our project to 2 of our mentors, Milestone Labs and Adam Bleakney. We shared the progress we have made since we first spoke with them. From our conversation, we realized that we need to narrow down our topic and start conducting more secondary research on what already exists for shoe treads and attachments. Also, it is necessary for us to speak more with Jenna, our user, about her desired experience with the tread, i.e. if she would need to sit down when taking the tread on and off. From here, we are going to conduct more secondary research and speak with a Materials Science professor, physical therapist, and a shoe maker so we can gain insight on where we would like to focus our project.