Independence Day, Just Awesome!

Ok, so this has been an exciting week. It started off with the long independence holiday  from Saturday to  Tuesday. I enjoyed all the activities that happened during the celebrations. I cant describe them because that would take pages to finish but what i enjoyed the most were the fireworks. The entire sky was a beautiful spectacle to look at because of the fireworks.

Wednesday started off with the daily meetings where all the teams brief each other on the progress they have made in their particular project and also elaborate on their plans for the day. So our plan for Wednesday was to create moderately high fidelity prototypes, write our mid term presentation and produce first level CAD models of the device we were making. So in order to do this efficiently, we split up and divided the responsibilities. Me and Liz did the prototyping, Alex was doing CAD modelling and Tori was working on the presentation. In the end we checked each other’s work to make sure everything was in place.

Prototypes

Weld-in Pin

The first prototype me and Liz worked on was the weld in pin which we are going to use for height and width adjustment of the device. So we constructed a simple but functioning version of the pin using a piece of PVC pipe, a rubber sphere,cardboard, dark tape, two springs, three washers, a bolt and a nut. The pin is used to secure something that requires adjustment from time to time on a telescoping tube as can be seen from the first image below.

The way that this works is if you pull the spherical rubber handle, the pin retracts inwards and the device can be moved to a different position and then if the hand is let go, the spring pushes the pin into the hole on the telescoping tube therefore securing it in place.

Cushion

After finishing the weld-in pin prototype we went ahead and started working on a cushion sample which we will use to provide comfort to the patient using the stand. We used vinyl, foam and a piece of laser cut wood to make the vinyl. we first make a stencil of the design and then cut the vinyl, went on the sewing machine and sew the necessary pieces together and finally stapled in the wood to create a hard bottom surface. the images below shows the finished product

CAD models

As we were doing the prototyping, Alex was busy working on CAD models of our final design. And i have to admit, the models look really really good. wouldn’t you agree? just take a look

This is the hybrid solution of the stand we are trying to build. it provides the patient with two ways of supporting themselves either with their back on the cushion and arms on the armrests or with their chest on the semi-circular cushion and arms wrapped around the pillow.

Presentation

Tori was also busy working on the presentation. She did a good job, the presentation was was well written and with a few tweaks from the team it was ready for presenting. As a team, we tweaking the presentation here and there to make it more logical and presentable just adding on the good job which Tori had already done. In the editing process i wasn’t as helpful as i usually am when working in a team. So am working on improving my engagement and contributions in activities such as these. Hopefully by the time i finish this summer internship i would have mastered the art of voicing my thoughts out instantly other than second guessing myself if i was right over some discussion we were having as a team. This is a peculiar  practice because i have noticed that it is growing on me here in the USA but never happens when am home. Back home i voice my concerns over things especially technical stuff outright without hesitation but here i find myself being wildly reserved.

Today

Today, we  finally had the long awaited presentations after three rounds of practice and i would like to think we nailed it. It really was good to air out the thought process of our entire project up to this point to colleagues in detail and get feedback from the flow in form of questions which help to put somethings we missed into perspective.

Well that is week four in brief!