Ascenditur
Sep 2017 - Dec 2017
3.007 Introduction to Design
As part of the design module, we were tasked to design and fabricate a wearable that solves a specific problem. Our problem statement involves people with short fingers that have trouble gripping objects due to the lack of grip strength and finger reach.
We have thus reached out and spoke to the members public who faced such an issue and listen to their stories. The real work began and we used chopsticks and rubber bands to rapidly prototype our ideas and validate its functionality and usability.
After three iterations, we came out with our finalised glove structure that involves the use of actuator to contract and relax the fingertips to aid gripping. Furthermore, Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) filament was used to 3D print the finger extrusion to increase the finger reach of the user.
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In this project, I was the software engineer and my role involves both designing the circuitry for the glove as well as writing the code to enable the different components to work as one. Arduino Bluno was used as the MCU to control the Fergelli linear actuator.
The logic work as follows:
To actuate the glove into grip mode, a light press on the flexiforce sensor towards the side of the index finger will suffice. The actuator will retract and pull the nylon string that passed through the finger skeleton and into the fingertips which force the fingers to close.
To release the glove from grip mode will be the same. The linear actuator will extend and thereby releasing the tension caused by the nylon string.
Apart from electronics, I helped with the CAD of the overall structure of the glove and the design of the poster on the right.
On December, we set up our booth to showcase our product to the member of the public and receive many wonderful feedbacks and possible implementations such as therapy in healthcare.
This could not have happened without my awesome design team: Rachel, Dan, Ali and Edmund!
On
Skills acquired/displayed
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Arduino
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C
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Electronics
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Adobe Illustrator
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Fusion 360
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3D printing
Problems faced
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Coming out with exact problem statements and idea
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Do not know to how to use illustrator
Solution
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As a team, we brainstorm around the idea of hand and did deeper research into possible problems
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Learned illustrator through an online platform (lynda)