First Visit to CRI

Notes

Ash

• ·      Diagnosed with MS 7 tears ago

§  Limited movement on his right side

• ·      Trunk and arms rower
• ·      Grip on Oar

§  Adaptive technology exists but it not ideal

§  Feathering

§  Too stiff

·      Uses a fixed seat

§  Needs frame to be light

§  Needs to ensure hamstring flexibility

§  On a wedge

Dock

• ·      Can't get wheel chair safely over dock box
• ·      Use ramps
• ·      Low and high tide make it dangerous

Riggers and Seats

• ·      Seat pads Velcro on
• ·      Rigger needs to be up higher to use fixed seat
• ·      Rigger/seat on light boat

Pontoons

• ·      Used for arm and shoulders

Project Themes, Ideas, and Topics

Theme

Community Rowing is located in Boston, Massachusetts and is dedicated to "fostering a community that is both welcoming and supportive." They make rowing accessible for every individual through the use of adaptive technology. It is our classes’ goal to create adaptive technology in order to make their mission more attainable.     

Ideas

Personally, I have an immense interest in grip aides. It's probably because I like designing clothing. Anyway, if you would like to know more about the idea follow this link: http://vivvzh.blogspot.com/2015/09/grip-aid.html

Topics

• ·      Seats
• ·      Riggers
• ·      Equipment Carrier
• ·      Grip aides
• ·      Shoes
• ·      Dock box
• ·      Dock

Questions

• 1. May I see the grip aides Ash uses?
• 2. Do you know of any grip aide regulations?
• 3. What type of grip aides has he tried?
• 4. Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

Reflection

• ·      I wish we had been bale to spend more time with the rowers. Jenny is really nice, but cannot give us the same information the rowers can.
• ·      I like how accepting and independent the rowers are.
• ·      I am really excited about this project, even more so than I had anticipated.

Photos

Disability Awareness Reading

Write a quick blog post on something that stood out to you:

3 Responses to "Do You Need Help?" 

As a general rule, I try not to assume things about people. However, it never occurred to me how demeaning asking if someone "needed help" could be.  I can only imagine how annoying it must be to get asked this over and over again when help is not needed. I wish more people, including myself, would realize these arguments without having to be told. People with disabilities have a dark past caused by the ignorance of "able" bodied individuals. I, however, am pleased this information is being spread and that people with disabilities are no longer afraid to speak out on topics such as this (like they where before the early 70s). 

Project Introduction

Project Introduction 

Here are three cool adaptive technologies: 

1. Fixed-Seat Track

There where fixed seats that attached to standard boat tracks, but could not withstand the great strain of racing. So,  the seat would loosen or come off the tracks during a race. When the new adaptive fixed-seat tracks were developed, the seat attached to the boat safely and effectively, but the force on the seat attachment ripped up the decking. Reinforcing the deck and attaching the tracks using large washers (to improve the load distribution) corrected this problem. 

2. Reading Guides 

Reading guides are good tools for kids who have trouble with visual tracking and focus. The plastic strip highlights one line of text while blocking out surrounding words that might be distracting. The strip is also easy to move down the page as the child reads.

3. Wheelchairs 

 Wheelchairs allow people to perform mobility related daily activities. They can be powered either by hand or by motor;  electrical controls manage motors and seating control actuators through an input device. There are usually handles behind the seat for someone else to push the wheelchair or an input device for caregivers. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is a struggle or impossible.

CRI Questions

These questions would only pertain to those rowers who where grip aids/have trouble with gripping the paddle's handle, as I would like to base my project off of idea j. 

1. May I see the grip aids you use while rowing?
2. Do the grip aids you use while rowing come in different sizes?
3. How do you put your grip aid(s) on? (For rowers with one arm)
4. May I try on the grip aids? 
5. Are there any other types of grip aids that can be used? 
6. How much do the grip aids cost? 
7. Could you show me how you row while the grip aids on? 

Drill Press and Band Saw

Drill Press and Band Saw

Safety and operation Rules 

General rules 

1. Know where all emergency equipment and phones are
2. Tie all long hair back and wear close toes shoes
3. Do not wear loose clothing and use all safety equipment (e.g. safety glasses)
4. Treat the machines with respect: they are not toys 
5. Make sure someone is with you whenever working with the equipment 

Drill Press

1. Make sure the chuck is properly tightened, and that you have taken the monkey wrench
2. Use peck drilling to ensure the material you are drilling through has a way to escape the the drill. 
3. Use clamps and pieces of wood if necessary to avoid injury. 
4. Do not put your hands near the drill pieces. 
5. wear all proper safety gear. 

Band Saw 

1. Wear all proper safety gear. 
2. Keep hands away from blade. Wait to take piece until the blade has stopped moving.
3. If the piece is hot, wait to take it off. 
4. Never lean on the band saw table. 
5. uUse pieces of wood to maneuver small pieces while sawing. This keeps your hands away from the blade. 

Limitations 

Bandsaw - Is used mainly for straight cuts or long, expanded curves. This makes it hard to do detailed cuts and detailing in general. 

Drill Press - The drill press can only make circular cuts and only to a certain width. If you need to make a very large hole in a piece it could not be used. As well, it takes a while to reposition everything. 

Benefits 

Both machines are easy and relatively safe (if you follow proper procedures) to use. As well, they are great machines to introduce to novice level mechanics/engineers. 

Vision and Reality of my Key Chain 

Having worked with power tools before, I realized very early on the my design would have to be relatively simple in order to achieve something clean. I settled on an abstract leaf pattern. The only problem I have had is time management. There where too many lines in the design, and so i did not have time to finish the key chain. I will probably stop by sometime this week to finish it. 

Milk Frother

Milk Frother 

How it Works 

After turing the frother on, it is easy to infer that a motor is used to create a small vibration. This method works very well and creates many small milk bubbles. 

By looking at it, it is easy to figure out the affordances (switch), mapping (arrows for batteries) and feedback (the device turning on). This device is small, light weight, and easy to use. However it is also very brittle and not ver ergonomic. After taking apart and laying out all of the parts, I got a better understanding of how it works. A small motor near the top of the device is a attached to a small whisk, that is kept in place by two small pieces of medal. The motor is battery powered and turns on and off by means of the switch. 

I have labeled each part and created this spread sheet to explain the purposes more effectively:  

After taking the frother apart and examining each piece, I have learned that I know very little about manufacturing and product design. However, I hope this class helps me understand  these concepts.

Higher-End Device 

The more expensive milk frother feels sturdier and has a more comfortable feel. However this is probably attributed to the cost difference. As well, it is far larger than the Ikea version. However, in my opinion, these difference do not justify buying the high end milk frother over the ikea one. Especially since they both work just as well. There is a $17 price difference between the two. I would buy the Ikea one. 

My Milk Frother

After testing the milk frother Sarah and I made in class it is obvious the Ikea frother works much better. In order to use ours' you have to twist the handle while employing an up and down motion. This gets very tiring. As well, the frothe created is very little and disappears quickly. There is not any mapping or feed back on our device, however the handle is any example of a affordance. Personally, I think there should be an arrow drawn around the handle so it would be obvious to twist while mashing, but there was not the proper time to complete this. This device is mostly made of plastic, and so would be cheap to make. However, it requires quite a bit more labor than a normal frother. The improvements I would make focus on the neck of the device: because of the limited supplies, we had to use lego pieces to build it. Through out using the device the pieces would disconnect. This got rather annoying. I would also make the handle more comfortable. 

Vending Machine

Vending Machine 

Type: Snack Machine 

Location: the DOF in severance 

Think about how the user interact with the machine: 

• How does the machine present its capabilities to the user?
  The machine shows the snacks provided by having them on display behind a sheet of glass. Each snack has a price and assigned letter-number combination below it.  Next to this display is a keypad with numbers and letters that correspond to the combination under the snacks. it can be inferred that the user must insert the correct number of money into the money slots located under the keypad and punch in the right combination to get the snack desired. 
• What can the user do?
  The user can do the following: enter number-letter combinations on the key pad, insert money (paper and coins) into the provided slots, receive a snack, receive change, and read the display on top of the keypad.
• What affordances does the machine present?
  The machine has several buttons and two ports that you push to open. However, both of the ports are extremely close to the ground and do not open sufficiently. Someone tall and/or with large hand would have trouble. On the other side, the buttons are very high up, so children and short adults will also have trouble.  
• How does the user know what to do first?
  Along with the human concept of exchanging monetary value with goods, there is also a drawing and instructions above the money slot. 
• What kind of feedback does the machine give to tell the user about the state?
  There is an electric display above the keypad that states the condition of the machine. If it is in correct working order is reads, "READY." 

The Good: 

• You get your snack relatively easily if you are of average height
• The machine is convenient
• A variation of snacks 
• Relatively inexpensive   

The Bad: 

• The design is not universal. Someone who is tall will have trouble reaching the ports. As well, the the port used to get the snack itself does not open fully. Meaning someone with large hand will be unable to get their snack. The keypad is very high up, so children, short people, and people in wheelchairs will have difficulty. As well, you need to be able to read to make sure the machine is working, so a child under the age of six will have issues.
• Some of the affordances are not clear cut. Signs and drawing had to be put up in order for users to interact with the machine properly. 
• The mapping for delivery of the snack is not always accurate. The snacks will sometimes get stuck between the wire holding the other food and the glass panel. This makes it impossible for the user to get their food.Other times, the user will get twice the amount of food wanted. 

Improvements: 

1. I think the keypad and the coin port should be closer to the middle so people of all heights can use it easily.
2. Make the dollar port less finicky.
3. Also, make the key pad less complicated. For example, use something more modern so that it is smaller (e.g touch screen that you slide to the left for letter and to the right for numbers)
4. Use a better latch on the food port so that it opens more that one and a half inches
5. Although I cannot think of a solution , but if there could be a better system for receiving the food than the coils then I would change that as well. The food gets stuck far to often for it to be efficient.