The team has completed the final prototype, seen below, and the evaluation of testing the final prototype seen here: Final Prototype Evaluation-1c4158l.

The team finished up their prototype design! In the morning Chase and Emily soldered the actuators and battery together. In the afternoon Emily, Megan and Kyle completed attaching the actuators to the wheelchair and constructing a battery holder. Afterwards Megan put together an assembly instruction sheet for the team’s evaluation available under the Final Prototype Tab. Evaluations will be carried out over the next few days.

Again the team utilized the prototype lab in Bolz to construct their wheelchair. The team attached the brackets to the wood pieces constructed last week. During construction the team was aware of the direction  of the actuators movement and was careful to avoid interference.

The team spent their class period today in the prototype lab in Bolz. The lab has been very useful to the team throughout this process. Today the team focused on cutting and shaping the wood pieces required for the prototype. The team ensured that the pieces were sanded to prevent splinters and was careful to avoid splitting the wood.

The team has been working through refining our prototype concepts to account for the feedback received thus far. The device needs to take into consideration the main user, older people with limited mobility and dexterity. This definition of the user has added the constraint of making an intuitive design, ensuring a safe and robust design, and minimizing operating force of the device. The team has considered a linkage design and/or linear actuators to account for these constraints.

Today the team will present to their peers and a panel of design experts during class to gather feedback on what the panel believes is the optimal design.

The team worked on their SolidWorks model and the potential prototype designs. The team is considering an automated design that raises the thigh and calf. Kyle and Chase can be seen working on the project in the image above. The team hopes to answer whether or not a foot rest is necessary for the design in the upcoming weeks.

The team began work on their second round prototypes. The team decided to prototype a linkage design (concept 2) and a elevating chair (concept 1). More details can be found under concepts ‘2nd Round Prototypes.’

The team completed the root cause analysis, compiled three personas, and began identifying constraints. The team is still unsure about which specific mobility device to focus on (walkers, canes, wheelchairs, crutches, etc.); however, the majority of the problems identified involve walkers and wheelchairs. The next steps are to decide which of the root problems provide the best opportunity for a product and to begin the ideation process.

Team has begun compiling observations into a concise document. Document includes user problem, user statement, problem statement, and metrics. Team is now working on developing different personas. Personas will be an older adult, a physical therapist, and a family member with a parent in assisted living.

An interesting find thus far has been the contribution of anxiety to how users interact with the mobility devices. Nurses note that users develop anxiety from a fear of falling. Anxiety results from different sensory inputs such as visual, sound, and touch. Regardless of end product the team needs to ensure that the device minimizes the anxiety of the user. A current solution that minimizes anxiety is adding weights to walkers which adds more stability to the users experience (shown in image below).

The group has been conducting several onsite visits and interview over the past month.

• October 3 – Visit Sunrise of Dublin
• October 7 – Follow up visit at Sunrise of Dublin
• October 10 – Interview with Dr. DiGiovine and AT Center tour
• October 10 – Visit to Darby Glen
• October 17 – Visit to Ohio Living Westminster-Thurber; meet with physical therapists on staff

Our next steps are to:

• Contact suppliers – potentially shadow during in-home consultation
  • Heard back from NuMotion contact who is eager to set up a time for us to shadow
• Continue visits to nursing homes
• Continue independent research
  • Look into legal restrictions and financial/logistical barriers
• Narrow our focus to pinpoint areas for design opportunities