This is a makeup post from last week as I thought I had blogged but I guess I didn’t. Throughout this week we worked on creating early prototypes to play with the idea of positioning in the water and how we wanted to work. Here’s a summary of our prototypes and what we worked on.

Prototype #1: Proof of Concept (Medium Fidelity)

Worked:

• Mesh was comfortable
  • Prevents Sliding
• Easy to position
• Connection and support by knee portion
• Flotation under arms
• Straps behind (as opposed to side) much more secure
• Surrounding structure helped with flotation and rotation

Didn’t work:

• Deflating the mesh ring
• Slides under butt
  • Zipties and straps galore
• Very Hard to use (duck under)
• Mesh Connection
• Knees out of water (?)
  • Possibly order something? –> We later ordered new mesh

What We Learned:

• Don’t Deflate
• Change Mesh?

 

Prototype #2: Grand Teton the First

*No picture: Basically this used a “Grand Teton float” shown below and attached the blue mesh seat underneath it.

Worked:

• Easy to clip on and adjust mesh seat
• U Shape
• Plenty of support, hard to flip/sink in

Didn’t work:

• No neck support, made it very uncomfortable
• Height of inner tube made it impossible to see over, felt claustrophobic

What We Learned:

• Adjust size of inner tube (use pvc and pool noodles?) to be able to see over and sit lower in water

 

Prototype #3: PVC Pool Noodle (Medium Fidelity)

Worked:

Head rest was decently comfortable

In theory worked, when not in water

Kept at lower level in water

Didn’t work:

Straps rotated around, slid on pool noodles, didn’t keep mesh above noodles

Waaaaaay too close to water, failed safety test

Device collapsed→ PVC bends

Rotation, when leaning back, almost completely tipped over

What We Learned:

It’s a tradeoff between safety and being in the water. The goal of the prototype was to submerge our client at a lower level in the water. While this was accomplished, it placed the water level too close to tracheal tube. Ultimately, we should prioritize safety and so we must accept this limitation

 

Prototype #4: Saddle/ Teton (Medium Fidelity)

*No Picture: Basically it was an upright seated design with the saddle from the previous device.

Worked:

Tracheal tube was higher out of water

Could see over sides of Teton

Very Secure

Didn’t work:

Current Knee support was too short

Saddle was subpar

Velcro under seat did not survive water (sticky side)

Strap across shoulders was too high and clunky

What We Learned:

Higher out of water was fine, as long as more vertical

Could have more access to water while seeing over side if more vertical

Liked the EVA, possibly more squishy

U bar?

Buoyant foam in saddle is bad

 

Moving forward we take the best parts of all these prototypes and move forward with them.