Hello everyone, its almost the end of the third week of SEED. Before i talk about what happened this week let me tell you we finished off last week.

Friday, 21 June

On Friday, firstly we had the morning meeting where we got some feedback from the other groups about other areas of research we can touch before moving on to the come up with the design criteria. Some of the areas included anthropometric dimensions of the human body, Wheelchairs, Materials used to make different kinds of harnesses and Muscular disorders and the muscles affected by these disorders. We decided to divide the research and conquer. I focused more on the anthropometric dimensions and muscular dystrophy. We then went on to sit in an interview with our client. This interview was very helpful because it helped us understand the main problem of the project. The main task was to design a zip line harness that will provide support to children with muscular disorders at the same time allowing a wide range of arm and upper body movement so that they can take part in the rope course at Camp For All. After the interview, we compiled all the answers and identified the areas that needed more research and dug deeper. In the afternoon we had a fab shop about 3D printing and how to use the cloud based 3D printing software.

In the evening we went alexus’ birthday party!

Monday 24 June

On Monday, we presented our design context review to the other groups, grant, adulfor and Dr Hunter. They gave us some really helpful feedback on how we should focus more on the problem than the solution at this stage of the design process. We were also told to look into the sewing techniques used when making different types of harnesses. I might learn how to sew by the end of this project. From the presentation of the DCR, the rest of the day was all about research. Making sure we leave no stone unturned. We looked into other camps similar to Camp For All and the devices they use on the ziplines. We also looked at the standards set by the ADA and ACCT on ziplines.

Tuesday, 25 June

On Tuesday, we finished up the intensive research we had been doing and went on to develop the constraints and the objectives of the project. When choosing the objectives we focused more on the problems our client addressed and the short falls of the previous designs. Safety ended up as the only constraint. After that we came up with the design criteria. It took us some time but we managed to complete the design criteria. We reached out to Grant and Adulfor for help when we were coming up with the design criteria. In the afternoon, the order that we made on the petzl rescue triangle had finally came in. This is the device that is currently  used at the camp. We decided to set it up and test it in terms of support, comfortability and range of motion.

The petzl rescue triangle used at Camp For All.

We then had a solid works fab shop so that we become familiar with the software for 3D designs and drawings.

Wednesday, 26 June

On Wednesday, we began the day by making some improvements to the design criteria. We decided to define the range of motion in terms of anatomical terms such abduction and adduction instead of just using degrees. Then we rated the importance of the design criteria against each other using the Pairwise Comparison Chart. Support and comfortability was rated as the most important then followed by Range of motion. After that, we decomposed the project into a number design blocks and made the gantt chart. In the afternoon, another order we made arrived. This was an adjustable stadium chair. We dismantled it to and focused on the adjustment mechanics used in this chair. We finished off the day looking at ratchet hinges and one way gears.

Adjustable Stadium Chair

ooh we also took a team Photo.

Team Zipline4All!!!

 

Thursday, 27 June

Today we started the day with brainstorming different ideas. So many ideas came up. It took us the whole morning to finish off the whole brainstorming process. We had SEED lunch at 12. This where all the SEED interns, TA’s come together and have lunch in the design kitchen and talk about different project they are working on. It is really interesting to see the progress the other teams are making. After that we had a few more brainstorming sessions and added some hitchhiking into it. We then developed the a morph chart to come with different designs. The designs ended up being similar in one way or another, as the saying goes “great minds think alike”. We then decided to have another brainstorming session on ideas besides the ones that already exist. We finished off the day with .an interview with our client from Camp For All.

Tomorrow we start Pugh screening and scoring .