The Chosen One

Monday was primarily spent creating and practicing a PowerPoint presentation to share where we stand at this point of the summer. We made sure to discuss design objectives that led us to choosing a final solution. Ultimately, the solution that scored highest on our Pugh Scoring Matrix was the solution we decided to move forward with in the engineering design process. Though not actually being manufactured out of iron, we decided to nickname our final solution “Iron Throne” since it resembles a chair. You can check out an initial sketch from the brainstorming step below.

 

Key details of the solution include:

• an aluminum frame with plating for strength and durability
• a ratchet hinge to allow the back of the seat to lock into place at varying angles
• a removable u-shaped pillow for added neck support
• removable head supports to help users maintain an upright position
• breastplate strapping to ensure safety of our device

 

 

 

Prototyping & Presentations

Come Tuesday, it was finally time for the long-awaited presentations.

Because we had made several changes shortly before presentations began, I felt a bit uncertain about presenting. Nonetheless, I presented alongside my team member, Chisomo, and everything ran almost perfectly! My confidence immediately skyrocketed as I was met with several compliments at the conclusion of our presentation. I had worried for so long that things may not go as planned; however, I entirely proved myself wrong.

 

 

 

 

Andrew and Aubrey also created a low-fidelity prototype while Chisomo and I dedicated time to our presentation. Our low-fidelity prototype consisted of foam sheets, straws, pipe cleaner, foam blocks, and string. We were even able to allow for flexibility in the prototype so it could adjust angles. This initial prototype is very similar in shape and functionality to the final device that we would like to produce.

 

 

 

A Knot in the Zipline

With our low-fidelity prototype complete, by Wednesday we had finally moved onto creating a medium-fidelity prototype. We decided that we would use the steel frame we had from the stadium chair we had previously ordered and acrylic plating since we did not have aluminum plating right on hand. Because we needed two 14″ x 15″ acrylic pieces and one larger piece, this meant we would have to laser cut the acrylic. This was my first time using the laser cutter so I was immensely excited to finally learn how to use it. The whole process was much easier than I thought — simply draw two squares in Adobe Illustrator and hit print! Laser cutting the acrylic only took a few minutes and the squares were exactly what we needed. I can’t wait to laser cut more not only this summer, but next year too!

We also ordered a few items to be used in further medium-fidelity prototypes. Hopefully they arrive early next week so we can get to using them as quickly as possible. We did run into some trouble with finding a ratchet hinge that support a high enough weight capacity. We will continue the search process for as long as we need to as an adjustable seating angle is a key feature we would love to have!

A Kick Out of SEED!

I had been looking forward to Wednesday evening for the past week. About half of the SEED interns set out to the Dynamo game that night. For those of you that don’t know, Dynamo is Houston’s Major League Soccer team. Again, this was a first for me as I had never been to a soccer game before. Though it did take some time to figure out how the game should be played out, I wholeheartedly enjoyed the game! It also just so happened to be $1 hot dog night just like the Astros game the week before. So, of course we did what any other group of college students would do and bought a whopping 24 hot dogs that night. And honestly, I think I’d be okay with not eating another hot dog for the rest of the year after these past couple of weeks! The end of the night was celebrated with a firework show to commemorate Independence Day. This was definitely one of my most favorite and memorable moments of the summer.

This week we spent only three days in the OEDK due to the 4th of July holiday. Despite the short work week, my team was able to accomplish more than we had anticipated! So, the long weekend was definitely a much needed break.

Catch you all later this week!