This has been a rather successful week for Team Zipline4All. The first half of the week was spent working out small details of our final solution. We were able to produce a final prototype by Wednesday afternoon and added several key features. We also had the opportunity to test our final design on actual children! I’ll share everything with you all below.

Details of Final Design Solution

After having people across a myriad of ages and sizes try our device, it became clear that our device was not necessarily one size fits all. Taller individuals often had extra fabric just below their shoulders while those on the shorter side didn’t have this issue as their heads rested along the top edge. We were particularly inspired by the Petzl Rescue Triangle to add an additional feature to our device. Essentially, we wanted to add strapping along the top edge of the device to allow the back to be loosened or tightened as needed. Surprisingly, we were able to create this feature within a matter of minutes — and it actually worked!

To be completely fair, our seat belts were a feature we continuously pushed aside as a later issue. This quickly came back to bite us as we realized our seat belt design was essentially doing nothing in terms of security. We were using a 3-point harness that worked similarly to a baby’s car seat. However, there was a significant amount of space between users and the seat belts that we just couldn’t seem to eliminate. Thus, we spent many hours trying to develop a new design and finally landed on one that we really liked. Our final seat belt design was simplified to a waist strap and shoulder straps similar to a backpack.

A Custom & Comfortable Experience

Come Thursday, we were finally able to begin testing our device on actual children. This was key to determining the overall functionality of our device as it is meant to truly cater to children. We were able to test our device among a handful of children from ages 6 to 11. In exchange for their time, we gave them a tour of the OEDK and 3D printed different figures they could take home with them as a souvenir. I was particularly interested in this part because I was finally able to 3D print on my own!

Because we had been testing on adults weighing between 110 to 200 pounds, we always felt as though our device was a bit on the smaller side of the spectrum. Though in reality, our device is particularly oversized in comparison to such small children. We did not believe this was necessarily an issue as our device has the ability to conform to a variety of shapes and sizes and several adjustments can be made to cater to everyone. I really admire the fact that our device is so versatile and customizable. For example, the seat belts and cinch mechanism can be loosened or tightened based on different sizes. The ropes can also be elongated or shortened. In testing, we found that shorter people often required longer ropes and taller people needed shorter ropes in order to sit properly. Our cushions can also be easily removed or adjusted to allow users to maximize their comfort level. We also have a u-shaped neck pillow that users can choose to use for added support. Since the main goal of our device was to create a comforting zip-lining experience for special needs children, I believe we have done all that we can to make our device a success in reaching this goal.

Finally, we wrapped up our week by working on the more technical aspects of our project. We spent the majority of Friday logging test data, updating our portfolio, creating documentation of instructions and materials, and creating our PowerPoint presentation for the upcoming week. We also took our device to the workout room of Martel to hang 300 pounds worth of weight from it and determine if our 250 pound weight capacity could be met — in which case it was!

Nearing the End

It is so surreal knowing we are entering our final week of SEED. I can’t wait to share my final thoughts with you all next week!