Weekly Updates:
Week 1:
Week 1:
In class:
In class, we watched a video about brainstorming and presenting ideas to a client. In the video, the fire commissioner tasked a group of engineers with designing products to make it easier for firefighters to do their job. During the video, the engineers spitballed ideas, no matter how odd or crazy they were. After the initial brainstorming, they went back and looked at the ideas again and weeded out the ideas that were not feasible. After the initial ideas were thought of, they did a couple of tests to check the effectiveness of the designs and think of ways to improve it. The second round of brainstorming was done after the testing and seeing the kinds of conditions the firefighters worked in. With the best ideas in mind, the team worked together to produce 3-D renderings of the designs.
In class, we watched a video about brainstorming and presenting ideas to a client. In the video, the fire commissioner tasked a group of engineers with designing products to make it easier for firefighters to do their job. During the video, the engineers spitballed ideas, no matter how odd or crazy they were. After the initial brainstorming, they went back and looked at the ideas again and weeded out the ideas that were not feasible. After the initial ideas were thought of, they did a couple of tests to check the effectiveness of the designs and think of ways to improve it. The second round of brainstorming was done after the testing and seeing the kinds of conditions the firefighters worked in. With the best ideas in mind, the team worked together to produce 3-D renderings of the designs.
This video was helpful to the group because it showed us that in the industry people brainstorm crazy ideas all the time. A crazy idea can cause the group to think in a certain direction that could lead to a possible solution. We also learned about the steps that should be taken when coming up with a solution to a problem. It is important to have first-hand experiences with the problem so you can better understand it. With a better understanding of the problem, it will be clear exactly what needs to be fixed in order to solve the problem.
Out of class:
The group brainstormed ideas about devices that can be used for blind people. The problem that was proposed was that when blind people are living their everyday lives and walking through the streets, the only assistance that they can receive is by using a walking stick to help them “see” where they are going. Unfortunately, sometimes the walking stick by itself isn’t enough because if the walking stick doesn’t tap something in time, then the person would not know that there is an obstacle in his/her way and might continue to walk. If they continue to walk, then they might get themselves into an accident. Therefore, the first design idea that was proposed was to modify the walking stick that blind people use. The group's redesign of the walking stick consisted of having an ultrasonic sensor near the bottom of the walking stick to be able to detect obstacles a lot more quickly than if there wasn’t any sensor at all. The sensor would have a semi-circle vision of about six feet so that there will be an alert when something is within that range. The other modification was having a ball and socket contraption at the bottom of the walking stick so that the stick can have a lot more maneuverability and mobility when it is in use so that the sensor to detect obstacles.
The second design idea that was proposed was modifying and redesigning sunglasses that blind people use to help them with their everyday lives. Originally, sunglasses were used by blind people to cover their eyes so that people didn’t know that they were blind. The group decided to modify it so that there would be an ultrasonic sensor on the sunglasses as well. The sensor would be near the top of the lenses and would have a semi-circular radius vision of about 10 feet. When the sensor detects an object that is close enough, it will trigger a headset in the person’s ear to alert them that there is something there and will beep faster as the object came closer and closer. Week 2:
In class:
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| Figure 2: Side view of Oxygen Tubing |
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| Figure 1: Oxygen Tubing behind the ears |
Out of class:
The group then thought of multiple effective designs and products that could be created to aid the patients who face this problem. There were numerous ideas that were brought up to this discussion but at the end, the group decided to create something that would be lightweight and support the back of the ears of these patients. The ideas will be put up for discussion during the next in class period in order to decide which way the group wants to go with the product.
Out of class:
The group started to order materials that were going to be used in the design. The group received the oxygen tubing and started to take measurements on the thickness of the tube so that other material can be used to it. The group started to make 3D designs of the device on Autodesk Fusion 360. This design will later be 3D printed to be added to modify the tubing so that soreness is not affecting the patients.
Week 4:
Week 3:
In class:
In class this week the group met with the lab instructor who helped us to better organize the blog setup. Along with working on the blog and making it more user-friendly, the group also decided on the final product we will be trying to deliver at the end of the 10 weeks. We decided to make a support system for the air tubing that will attach behind the patient’s ears, allowing the tube to move freely without directly touching the user’s ear. Also with that design, we hope to make an innovation for the nose piece that will allow the user to be more comfortable while using it. The hope is to develop a soft, plastic piece very similar to that you would find on an earbud that can be fit over the hard plastic. This would allow the tube to be placed into the nostril without the hard plastic of the tube touching the patient's delicate inner nose tissue. Out of class:
The group started to order materials that were going to be used in the design. The group received the oxygen tubing and started to take measurements on the thickness of the tube so that other material can be used to it. The group started to make 3D designs of the device on Autodesk Fusion 360. This design will later be 3D printed to be added to modify the tubing so that soreness is not affecting the patients.
Week 4:
In class:
The group deliberated upon the material of the design. Whether to use composites or 3D printed materials. The group drew up a block diagram that will detail how the device will work when it is in use. After hearing back from actual nasal cannula users, there were more issues that were presented to the group. One issue that was brought up was that when there is too much flow of oxygen into the nose, it would cause irritation within the nose. Another issue that was presented was that the prongs on the nasal cannula would cause irritation on the inner nose. Also, methods on how to accurately measure the pressure exerted by the pipe on the skin, and the friction coefficient between the skin and the polymer.
Out of class:
This week out of class, we finished up gathering the materials needed to build the first prototype of our design. All of the materials we got were either cheap or free. We have two different types of oxygen tubing that we can work with. One is a modified version that uses a softer plastic for the tubing. The other one is a lot stiffer in construction. We also picked up two packs of moleskin, which will be used to hold our tubing brackets in place on the patient and used to for more comfort for the person. Also out of class, we began to refine the 3-D model of the oxygen tubing brackets. The original design was not correctly dimensioned because we were not able to get clear measurements of the tubing diameter until we had the product in hand. In order to measure the pressure exerted on the ear from wearing the oxygen tubing with and without the brackets, we are looking into different pressure plates that we can use paired with an Arduino so we can gather some quantitative data.
Week 5:
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| Figure 3: Block Diagram to organize project |
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| Figure 5: Oxygen Tubing |
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| Figure 4: Moleskin |
Week 5:
In class:
The group gathered all the materials for the first prototype of the and began to make the first design of the oxygen tubing. The group worked with two different designs of oxygen tubing. The first type of oxygen tubing was a headset type that went over the head. The cannula part of the headset could be made back and forth to fit the inside of the nose. Unfortunately, that design for the oxygen tubing was not adequate because the cannula part of the oxygen tubing did not fit well into the nose, therefore if anything were to move the attached part of the cannula, then the entire cannula will be pulled from the nose. The headset part was also not very good because it did not fit tight around the head and it could be removed really easily with minimal effort. Therefore, the group decided not to modify the design in any way.
The second design that was used was the oxygen tubing in which the tubing goes around the ear to hold the cannula intact. The group found that this design was more applicable to an innovation because the cannula wouldn’t be taken out of the nose as easily as the headset design. The group did some testing by attaching moleskin to the ears and ran the tubing across the ear to see if there was any discomfort with the moleskin there. It turned out that there wasn’t any irritation to the skin when there was moleskin. The group also modified the cannula by attaching a foam coating on the cannula. It turned out that the foam coating made it more comfortable for the wearer to put the cannula in the nose.
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| Figure 6: 3-D design of Ring Bracket |
Out of class:
The group added some more modifications to the oxygen tubing to see if it works well and is comfortable for people to wear. The group also brainstormed some more ideas to see what other kinds of materials can be used for the coating of the oxygen tubing. The 3D design was also modified so that it can be finalized to be printed in the next class.
Week 6:
In Class:
The group added more moleskin padding so that it would cover a larger area of the oxygen tubing so that if it moves forward and backward in the ear, the moleskin would be there so that there is still comfort when the tubing is moved around. The group also 3D printed the ring that will be used to support of the oxygen tubing. The group also took measurements of how much force will be used until the oxygen tubing becomes uncomfortable. In Class:
Out of class:
The group met and discussed the project and what each of us needed to do for the design to be finished. The 3D printed part for the device did not come out as planned, therefore the group had to design the part by hand in class. Some of the other members of the group discussed the measurements that would need to be taken so that a certain length of moleskin can be cut to be used as part of the design in the oxygen tubing.
Week 7:
In Class:
The group drew sketches of the design for the oxygen tubing and took measurements to see how much moleskin to put onto the oxygen tubing so that the moleskin covers the entire ear when the tubing is being moved. The 3D printed part to hold on the oxygen tubing failed, therefore, Cody and Raman designed the piece using wood instead.
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| Figure 7: Cutting correct measurements for moleskin |
Out of class:
The group tested the fabricated part by attaching it to the oxygen tubing bracket. When the part was used on the oxygen tubing, it was able to perform as expected and hold on to the tubing while being able to hold the mole skin along the tubing. Once the part was able to perform as expected, it allowed the group to be able to create more of the same parts to be used in the design.
Week 8:
In class:
The group did a draft presentation of the project. Dr. Fred Allen gave us some tips for improving our presentation skills. He mentioned that splitting up slides would be beneficial since a lot of information is present on one slide. Also, as a group we need to cover the information at a quicker pace but make sure our audience understands it. This is because we went up to 7 minutes when 5 minutes was the limit. Our block design needed to be fixed as it is very broad and does not specify the aspects of our design.
Out of Class:
The group worked on the presentation and took some of the suggestions that were given to improve the presentation. One of the suggestions that was taken was to reduce the amount of information in slides that had too many words. The group also began assembling all the different parts of the design together to finalize the design. |
| Figure 8: Putting the presentation together |
Week 9:
In class:
Cody and Raman made more of the fabricated parts that it will be able to fit into our design to hold the tubing. Andrew, Dennis, and Praneeth worked on the presentation to further improve on the overall presentation.
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| Figure 9: Ring Bracket made of wood |
Out of class:
The group met together to work on the final report for the project and improve some more aspects of the presentation. Raman received results for the testing of the design and shared it with the rest of the group. The group also practiced presenting the presentation so that the presentation came within the time limit that was given to the team.
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| Figure 10: Working on video for presentation |
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