We’re done. Everything that can be accomplished has been accomplished. Perfection is attainable, and it has been attained.

Not really, but the progress we made this week has put all other weeks to shame. We went from a low-fidelity cardboard model to a medium-high fidelity working protoype.

First: the enclosure. I spent hours and hours building a new triangular case in Solidworks, based on the measurements we got from the low fidelity models. This beautiful laser cut box, painstakingly crafted, worked PERFECTLY. It is beautiful and functional. Key features include a mirror base to reflect images, a triangular design for ease and comfort, and a polycarbonate plate that perfectly slots into the top for the foot to rest on.

Next, the camera mount. Kelvin and I worked in tandem to create a mount for the downward-facing camera to perfectly capture the bottom of the foot. First, the MagMount^TM. This revolutionary (for its time) device allows massive amounts of freedom when attaching a camera. The mount can be twisted, turned, moved up and down. After the perfect angle was found, we wrote down the position and created the BoltMount^TM.

Next, the toe separators. This piece to pull apart toes had a long and difficult prototyping process, but we found a winner in the end. The pegboard model allows users to place pegs anywhere on a polycarbonate plate for maximum customizability and comfort. The final design slides left and right to accommodate different designs for left and right feet.

Next, the software. Luis and Chris have been hard at work creating a killer web app. This allows the user to remotely call in a scan which is beamed to a phone or computer. I don’t understand how it works, but it’s just magical.

Next, the power. Luis and I spent the entire morning today building an amazing electric setup for the device. A hijacked laptop power supply converts wall AC power to 12V of DC goodness. This is sent straight into a modified phone car charger, which converts down to 5V for the cameras and Raspberry Pi, the computer at the center. This is the nicest consumer electronic I’ve ever taken apart; it’s like they were begging us to destroy it and harvest its parts. Back at 12V, a MOSFET allows the Pi to power a strand of LED lights. This component has a pin that controls brightness based on voltage, and Luis and I had lots of fun using our natural human body voltage to dim the lights. Thus we dubbed ourselves the “Electric Boys”, and we traveled around the OEDK with our working power supply showing off the lights. Tricks include fist bumping to turn lights on or off by connecting current, and controlling brightness by poking Luis with different pressures. This was the highLIGHT of our week.

Finally, we put the whole thing together. This is coming together as I type, but we are staining and polishing each of our wood enclosure pieces. They are all out on the table drying, and when they come together, they are going to look beautiful! This project is coasting to an end, and I’m ecstatic that we could put together a great working prototype.