This week our class was at the Fab Lab again and we put all the steps to our project together and finally created the working prototype. The product we were prototyping was a watch that is meant for users who are recovering from an injury and need physical therapy. The watch can monitor if a person is actually doing their practice by using motion detectors to detect both an arm twist and curl. In the previous weeks, we learned how to use the arduinos, designed our watch facer using the laser etching machine and sewed a strap for the watch. Now, finally all of that work came together.
We started by programming the Arduino and the two tilt sensors. I had used an Arduino previously but, I had never previously used a tilt sensor and I found this very interesting. We were able to test our code and when one of the sensors was activated the binary code changed from 0 to 1. Below are pictures of this step.
Next, we started putting the watch together including all 3 separate wooden pieces and the Arduino. I think what was really interesting to be about this was how easy it was to attach the Arduino. We simply used a piece of a glue sticker! I think that because the Arduino is a computer I thought it needed to be completely covered to keep it safe. I realized this isn’t the case and its actually a lot easier to prototype with simple computers than I previously imagined!
Continuing on with finalizing our watch face. We added on the top layer which held our designs. As I mentioned earlier mine was designed with an athlete in mind. It was meant to be sleek and stylish. I would love feedback though on which symbols you guys think are supposed to mean twist and which symbol is for curl. When I was designing this I thought it was very clear but then I showed my design to one of my friends and he guessed the opposite of what I originally thought. The two symbols are the “curl or spiral” and “ribbon or zigs”!
Here is my final watch with the strap attached! I am super proud to have made this prototype and can’t wait for our make-a-thon after spring break!
After this activity, we started creating a storyboard for our projects. My group struggled with understanding how the storyboard would relate to our project idea and products. We are the team working with Arielle to improve an athletes grip during bad weather conditions. We hadn’t really considered selling our products so we weren’t really sure where a user would purchase our product from. However, we decided it would make most sense if Arielle sold our product on her website along with the gloves!
Moving forward, after spring break we will be reaching our to Dr. Goodman to meet with him and learn about different materials. We will also be working with Elisa’s sculpture professor to understand how we could create a groove in the current hand rings. She said her studio definetly has tools we can use we just might need some training before using them! Also, we are all going to try to finalize which idea we want to pursue for the make-a-thon and meet with Arielle.
Gies College of Business || May 2019
Supply Chain Management & Information Systems/Information Technology
Hey Maryam,
You did a great job on your watch. I also think you did a really nice job explaining how to put it together in class. I looks like you learned a lot from the activity of utilizing technology and creative design together. I also like your idea of reaching out to Dr. Goodman for advice on materials to use for your product. I think your group is definitely headed in a good direction out of the break. Great Job!
I loved the color coded sections, it made reading this a bit more fun. I think leveraging Arielle’s established presence is a great go-to-market strategy which will inherently cut a lot of work out for you. Sounds like it’s all starting to come together and you guys can hit the ground running.