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Candidate Team
Projects - 2014
Unless otherwise
noted, these are suitable team projects.
Projects suggested this
year:
Projects suggested last
year:
Projects suggested in past
years:
Other projects:
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Project title
This project is suitable as
an individual rather than a team project.
-
Background:
-
Problem:
-
Aim:
-
Design Criteria:
-
Other:
- Links:
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Accessible Stroller for a
Wheelchair-Using Parent
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Problem: Parents who are
wheelchair users have many challenges with the care of their newborns and
infants. In particular, there are difficulties transporting the child as a
traditional stroller would be difficult to manage for a wheelchair
user.
-
Aim: Explore design concepts for
an accessible stroller or a device that would offer similar
features.
-
Design criteria: The design
should:
- provide a safe environment for the
child
- be easy for the parent to
independently attach and detach a device to his/her wheelchair while in the
wheelchair
- employ mechanisms that are easy to use
by a parent with limited hand dexterity and inoperable by the child
- provide good forward
visibility
- accommodate the child as he/she
grows
- be adaptable to both manual and power
wheelchairs
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Other:
- Links:
- Cursum
Wheelchair Adaptive Stroller (with video 2:59)
- Newborn Carrier
- Wheelchair stroller and
accessible crib (video - start at 1:45)
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Wheelchair Adaptor for the ROTA
Mobility RoWheel
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Background: The RoWheel is a
self-contained level drive system that can be retrofitted to an existing manual
wheelchair, effectively transforming it into a lever-drive wheelchair with 8
gears, steering, braking, and reverse.
-
Problem: Commercial manual
wheelchairs vary greatly in design and construction, making it impossible to
design the RoWheel to attach to all of them.
-
Aim: Explore designs for a
mechanical adaptor to attach / detach the RoWheel to / from most any make or
model of rigid framed wheelchair. (Although a adaptor that is able to work with
every manual wheelchair is probably an unobtainable goal, a design that could
address 70% of the market with a single mechanism or a set of three different
kits is more reasonable. Exceptions can be made for very small chairs for
children or highly specialized chairs for individuals with severe disabilities,
etc.)
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Design Criteria: The design should
be:
- Safe and durable
- Quick and easy to use, considering the
rider's limitations
- Lightweight and
inexpensive
- Easy to install, attach, and
disconnect
- Consider the expected mechanical
stresses at the points of attachment
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Other: ROTA will provide an
existing model RoWheel and a wheelchair, both of which must be returned upon
completion of the project. ROTA has machine shop capabilities for fabricating
adaptor parts from drawings and specifications.
- Links:
- ROTA Mobility
- Photo of RoWheel on a manual
wheelchair
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Balance Buddy & Moxie
Mobile
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Background: The Balance Buddy
project has been suggested by Sidekicks Ventures LLC, which is developing a new
line of home assistive products for older adults while the Moxie Mobile project
has been suggested by Aditazz, Inc, a technology-driven architecture firm
focused on empowering patients through patient-centered spaces and
patient-center product design.
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Problem: (From Sidekicks Ventures)
Falls are the single largest health risk for older adults who live
independently. They often have balance problems requiring an unobtrusive but
reliable device for helping them maintain their balance and footing as they
move around their homes.
When older adults begin to have balance
problems, typically between the age of 70 and 85, they often use canes or
walkers to maintain their balance and footing. Current commercial products can
be extremely cumbersome to use in the home. Canes are difficult because they
can be clumsy, topple over frequently, get in the way creating tripping
hazards, and offer limited help for moving easily around small spaces. Walkers,
although they provide steadier and more reliable help, are problematic because
they are large and difficult to maneuver in small spaces and are also
relatively ineffective on stairs. Both canes and walkers have the additional
problem that they often require one or two hands to hold them, which leaves the
user with a limited ability to use his or her hands for tasks in their home.
This problem is compounded when the user needs to carry objects around a room
or from one room to another.
- (From Aditazz) Within the Skilled Nursing
Facility, patient falls represent a major source of acute trauma and related,
avoidable, healthcare expenditures. While assistive mobility products, such as
canes and walkers, do a good job of preventing falls once properly engaged by
the patient, there exists a significant hurdle to device engagement - which
either motivates avoidance of these devices or contributes to falls that occur
during the process of device engagement. Regardless of the pathway to falling,
device ease-of-engagement remains an un-addressed design requirement for
current assistive mobility products.
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Aim: (From Sidekicks Ventures) The
project goal is to explore design concepts for an easily managed device to help
older adults who are having balance problems in their homes.
- (From Aditazz) The solution(s) to be
explored should propose a new mobility assistive device (or family of devices)
which is not only easy to engage but also encourages use.
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Design Criteria: The device
should:
- provide reliable balance help for
people who are unsteady on their feet;
- be able to be set aside without
falling or moving;
- be light-weight and extremely easy to
maneuver;
- be used with just one hand, freeing
hands to the greatest extent possible for necessary tasks around the
home;
- allow the user to carry objects (such
as food) while moving around;
- make the user feel more confident and
comfortable in their home compared to current commercially available canes or
walkers;
- be easy to get into and out
of;
- provide stability while getting out
of a bed, a chair, or off the toilet;
- encourage its use.
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Future Plans: The design needs to
be lightweight and relatively affordable to manufacture. It can employ
commercially available components or be an original design. Eventually the
device will feature an industrial design compatible with a broader line of home
assistive products, but for this project, the goal is to develop and test a
functional prototype for a new type of balance aid. As mentioned above, it
needs to roll or stand independently so that it doesn’t fall, or,
alternatively, be able to moved nearby where it can remain easily accessible
but not in the way of activity.
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Other:
The project suggestor is available to facilitate user testing.
- Links:
- HurryCane
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Projects suggested by Berke
Prosthetics / Orthotics
Amputee triathlon biking cleat
system
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Aim: Design a cleat / pedal system
that will allow use of a running prosthesis during the bike portion of a
triathlon. This will allow for faster and safer transitioning from the bike to
the run portion and eliminates the need for a sport-specific prosthesis. The
cleat system must be easily attached and detached from the running prosthesis
to allow running without interference. The pedal system must be stable enough
to allow standing up while cycling, but allow adequate degrees of freedom to
transition from sit to stand.
Prosthesis bike mount for improved
pedal power
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Aim: Design a socket and its
attachment to a road bike that will allow a para-triathlete with a congenital
deficiency to anchor his residual limb to the bike during single-leg cycling.
The socket must allow for easy donning and doffing to transition into and out
of the bike as quickly as possible during a triathlon competition. The
attachment must be stable enough while allowing some degrees of freedom should
the cyclist wish to change positions from sit to stand on the
bike.
External Achilles tendon
replacement
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Aim: Design an external
replacement for an Achilles tendon in a patient that cannot be surgically
repaired. This project has many nuances: it needs to allow for eccentric
contraction as well as push off.
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- Other:
-
- Links:
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3D Printing of Tactile Graphics /
Objects for Teaching Blind Students
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Background: Benetech builds
technology to serve humanity. We operate Bookshare, the world’s largest
accessible library.
-
3D printing has made huge advances in our
ability to quickly fabricate physical prototypes from ideas. 3D printing
manufacturers have recently called for "a 3D printer for every classroom in
America". Tactile graphics and other accessible 3D printed objects can be great
teaching tools for students, especially those with visual
impairments.
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Problem: To date, there is no
large collection or central repository of accessible 3D printed educational
tools or tactile graphics serving students with visual
impairments.
-
Aim: Design and document the
foundations of an online collaborative accessible database library of physical
learning tools, 3D printable objects, and tactile graphics for use in
education.
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Design Criteria: Select and create
3D models of objects and tactile graphics to seed this library, taking into
account their educational efficacy and defining guidelines for maximum
interpretability. Also identify commercially available physical objects that
could be used in an educational setting for students with visual
impairments.
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The solution should follow the STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and Common Core standards as
guidelines for the learning concepts that should be emphasized.
-
Publish the resulting database of web
links and 3D printed objects with embedded accessible metadata so they can be
searched for and found on the Internet by visually impaired users and their
teachers.
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Other:
- Links:
- Benetech
- Background on Tactile
Graphics
- Example Tactile Graphics on
Thingieverse
- 3D-printing tactile
graphics
- Parabola
Manipulative
- http://www.corestandards.org/Math
- STEM Touch
Graphics
- Project to
print braille in SCAD
- Information on Accessible
Metadata
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Projects employing inexpensive
voice-recognition technology
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Background: Thirty years ago,
voice recognition systems were in their infancy. A typical system cost $3000
and required considerable user training to recognize just a few words. Today,
the cost of these devices has fallen sharply while the performance has improved
greatly.
-
Aim: Explore an application for a
person with a disability using an inexpensive voice recognition product.
Examples include enhanced computer control and accessibility for those with
limited manipulation abilities, control of household appliances (lights, TV,
music system), and operation of a hospital
bed.
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Design Criteria: The device should
be appropriate for the user's abilities and be simple to configure and
use.
-
Other:
- Links:
- EasyVR Shield
- Voice Recognition
Module
- Speech
Recognition with Arduino
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Pooper scooper for canine
companions of wheelchair users
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Problem: Wheelchair users who walk
their dogs need to clean up after them. Limited hand / arm strength and reduced
mobility can affect the dog owner's ability to successfully perform both the
collection and bagging portions of this task.
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Aim: Explore designs for a pooper
scooper system that will be easy for pet owners with a disability to
use.
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Design Criteria: The improved
scooper design can employ commercially available components, but must be simple
in design, lightweight, convenient to store on the wheelchair, easy to use by
pet owners with limited hand / arm movement, and inexpensive to
fabricate.
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Other:
- Links:
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Creative Expression
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Background: Most everyone has a
need and desire to be creative through activities such as writing, painting,
sculpture, pottery, jewelry, quilting, photography, singing, dancing, and
music.
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Problem: Existing tools supporting
creativity are often lacking for people with disabilities. Movement
difficulties often prevent an individual from fully participating in their
chosen activity.
-
Aim: Explore ways to enhance
creative expression for people with disabilities. This could include the
creation of new activities or fabrication of new tools.
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Suggestions:
- Convert the user's existing assistive
technology device into a creative "paintbrush"
- Use non-traditional inputs such as
residual movements or brain waves
-
Other:
- Links:
- Chris Chafe - Director of
CCRMA
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Designing Your Afterlife
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Background: Death is the most
severe form of disability. One is no longer able interact with people or
physical objects in the world. What remains are only static artifacts - images,
writings, and the recollections of others. Gone are one's personality, beliefs,
expertise, humor, vision, memories, insights, and intellect.
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Problem: With one's death, it is
impossible to provide a full and accurate representation of who they were, what
they believed in, and how they acted. The recollections of others fade and
disappear with time, leaving the departed one's legacy at the mercy of the
living.
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Aim: Explore ways to preserve
one's essence after death. This might manifest itself as a first-person
interactive system that responds to queries, retells stories, relates
experiences, shares expertise, and expresses humor. The pre-dead user would be
able to create and program his / her eternal persona before her / his
demise.
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Other:
- Links:
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Project employing the Microsoft
Kinect Controller
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Background: Kinect is a 3D motion
sensing input device designed for the Xbox 360 video game console and Windows
PCs. It enables users to control and interact with computers wirelessly and
hands-free, through a natural user interface using full body gestures and
spoken commands.
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Aim: Explore an application for a
person with a disability using the Kinect Controller product. Examples include
enhanced computer control and accessibility for those with limited manipulation
abilities, physical therapy coach, control of household appliances (lights, TV,
music system), operation of Bluetooth devices (iPhone), and implementation of
an on-screen keyboard.
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Design Criteria: The device should
be appropriate for the user's abilities and be simple to configure and
use.
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Other:
- Links:
- Kinect for Xbox 360
- Gesture-Based Design
Engineering ( with video 3:27)
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Wheelchair backup alert
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Background: A few veterans with
spinal cord injury at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System use power wheelchairs
with head array controllers. (Head array controllers allow an individual
without hand or arm function to drive their wheelchairs using their head
position.)
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Problem: Individuals who use a
head array controlled wheelchair often do not have a sufficient range of neck
motion to check for obstacles behind their wheelchair while backing up. The
array controller itself may obstruct their view to the rear. These situations
create a potential safety hazard as the user could unintentionally collide with
objects or people.
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Aim: Explore mechanical or
electronic designs to provide rearward visibility and warning while backing
up.
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Design Criteria: The solution
should not involve drilling into the wheelchair frame or modifying its
controller.
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Other:
- Links:
- Permobil C300
wheelchair
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Project employing the Leap Motion
Controller
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Background: The Leap Motion
Controller senses and tracks the movement of hands and fingers in 3D: pointing,
waving, reaching, and grabbing. Advertised applications for this USB device
include control of a computer to: browse the web, read articles, flip through
photos, play music, draw, paint, design, play video games, and create
music.
-
Aim: Explore an application for a
person with a disability using the Leap Motion Controller product. Examples
include enhanced computer control and accessibility for those with limited
manipulation abilities, physical therapy coach, control of household appliances
(lights, TV, music system), operation of Bluetooth devices (iPhone), and
implementation of an on-screen keyboard.
-
Design Criteria: The device should
be appropriate for the user's abilities and be simple to configure and
use.
-
Other:
- Links:
- Leap Motion
- Controller
- Helping People
with Disability and Parkinsons Disease (video 5:00 in Spanish)
- Tiny
Device, Huge Potential: How Leap Motion Will Change Computing
- Using
the Leap Motion to enhance software accessibility
- Leap Motion
forums
- Gesture-Based Design
Engineering (with video 3:27)
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Microphone Comfort and Appearance
Project
This project
is suitable as an individual rather than a team project.
-
Background: Many veterans with ALS
rely on small lightweight voice amplifiers to allay voice fatigue and help them
be heard in more demanding speaking situations. These units typically consist
of a microphone worn near the mouth and a companion amplifier /
speaker.
-
Problem: Current microphones are
uncomfortable to wear for long periods, lack adjustability, often get out of
position, are not discreet, and do not look appealing.
-
Aim: Explore designs that address
comfort, adjustability, positioning, and appearance issues.
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Design Criteria:
-
Other:
- Links:
- Luminaud microphones and
supports
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Handbike Leg Positioning
Project
-
Background: The Top End Force RX
is a handbike used by lower extremity amputees and individuals with spinal cord
injury. While cycling, the user's legs are only supported at the foot and due
to the extreme recumbent seating position, the legs are nearly
horizontal.
-
Problem: To keep the cyclist's
knees flexed to prevent hyperextension, the therapist often has to add foam
under the upper thigh. In addition, the cyclist's legs can contact the rotating
wheel when steering, causing injury and skin breakdown.
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Aim: Explore designs to prevent
this knee hyperextension as well as protect the leg from contact with the
bike's wheel.
-
Design Criteria: The design should
not damage the handbike - no holes can be drilled into the
frame.
-
Other:
- Links:
- Invacare
Top End Force RX Handcycle
- Force
G Parts Book
- Amputee Leg Support accessory
- Leg Guard
accessory
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Enhanced bed control for veterans
with spinal cord injury
-
Background: Veterans with spinal
cord injury at the Palo Alto VA Health Care System use electric beds equipped
with a pendant that controls their operation: head up/down, bed up/down, and
foot up/down.
-
Problem: The buttons on the
controller are difficult to activate as they are concave and require
considerable pressure.
-
Aim: Explore solutions that would
enable veterans to more easily operate their beds, including voice
activation.
-
Design Criteria: Solutions could
consist of a replacement bed control pendant or an overlay to the existing
pendant.
-
Other:
- Links:
- Bed manufacturer
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Enhanced access to
voting
Enhanced access to mailed paper
ballots
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Background: Many individuals find
it convenient to have their voting ballots mailed to them. Doing so solves
problems related to travelling to polling places, negotiating physically
inaccessible polling places, and difficulties using the traditional card-punch
ballots or electronic voting systems.
-
Problem: Voters with fine motor
control problems may find it difficult to mark their paper ballots. This often
requires the voter to indicate his / her choice by accurately drawing a line
between two points on the ballot.
-
Aim: Explore mechanisms to aid
these voters to make their selection with paper ballots.
-
Design Criteria: The solution
should not mangle, cut, or otherwise damage the ballot. It should be able to be
used independently by the voter.
-
- Links:
-
Enhanced access to online
voting
-
Background: Many individuals find
it convenient to prepare their vote-by-mail ballot online as it allows for the
use of electronic accessibility tools. Doing so solves problems related to
travelling to polling places, negotiating physically inaccessible polling
places, and difficulties using the traditional card-punch
ballots.
-
Problem: The voter has to print
the marked up vote-by-mail ballot, print or address the envelope, sign the
ballot, and get everything into the envelope. These tasks greatly reduce the
value of online ballot marking, since many require assistance to complete the
process.
-
Aim: Figuring out how to resolve
these problems would be a valuable contribution to the emerging accommodation
of online ballot marking.
-
- Links:
-
Enhanced access to paper
ballots
-
Problem: Due to reading
disabilities, difficulty in sequencing tasks, or short term memory problems,
many voters who use a paper ballot:
- become disorganized reading through a
long ballot,
- have difficulty lining up ballot
elements,
- have difficulty completing all the
steps subsequent to filling out the ballot, and
- have difficulty transcribing their
voting choices from their sample ballot.
-
Aim: Explore solutions to help
these voters:
- keep track of what items they have
completed and what items remains
- line up ballot elements
- sequence through all paper ballot
voting steps including folding the ballot, inserting it into the envelope,
signing the envelope, and putting postage on it
- transcribe their choices from their
sample ballot
-
-
- Links:
- Fifty
Ideas for More Accessible Elections
- How might we design an
accessible election experience for everyone?
- MSU
Engineering Students Help Advance a Joystick for Voting
Independently
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Enhanced access to touch screen
devices
-
Background: Touch screen devices -
tablets, phones, kiosks, and computers - are becoming increasingly popular in
everyday life, from personally-owned devices to those found in stores and
polling places.
-
Problem: Many people with limited
hand control have trouble getting their touch screen device to accept their
'tap' or interpret their gestures correctly. Sometimes the problem is caused by
dry hands or fingers, but more often it's related to a user's mild fine motor
problems. In one situation, this issue causes them to unintentionally slide
their finger across the screen when they desire to tap, resulting in the touch
screen device misreading this action as a swipe. Or they may inadvertently hold
their finger on the selection too long, leading to misinterpretation as a
precursor to selecting or copying a block of text.
-
Aim: Explore ideas that would
enable users to make their selections more accurately on their personal touch
screen devices.
-
Design Criteria: The solution
should be an external adapter that can be used with an unmodified touch screen
device. Light weight, low cost, and compact size are key
features.
-
- Links:
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Magical Bridge Playground
Project
-
Background: Magical Bridge is
building the nation's first fully accessible and socially inclusive playground
designed specifically for children with disabilities as well as children of
parents who have a disability.
-
The City of Palo Alto has designated 1.3
acres of underutilized public land in Mitchell Park, located at 600 East Meadow
Drive in Palo Alto, for the site of the Magical Bridge Playground. The
playground will be adjacent to Abilities United and close to the
soon-to-be-built Mitchell Park Library.
-
Problem: Although most of the
park's design has been drafted, some aspects of the play areas could be
modified for better access. Replacement play areas are sought to update the
park with fresh attractions every few years.
-
Aim: Explore designs to address
the following issues, creating a safe, fun, accessible, and inclusive park
serving all children and their parents.
-
-
to enable a child using a wheelchair to move between
levels in the two-story playhouse
-
to speed up the flow of kids on the slide:
- design an attachment to
accommodate kids who can't get off the slide quickly or
- explore ways to permit parents to
assist their kids at both the top and bottom of the slide
-
to provide an easy way for parents to get kids into/out
of a swing safety seat
-
to offer a new and innovative play and educational
experience incorporating multiple senses, actions, and outcomes that is
inclusive for kids with a disability
-
Design Criteria: Designs should be
safe for everyone.
-
Other Information: Students will
build and test a scaled prototype of their design.
-
- Links:
- Magical Bridge Playground
- CreARTE:
Art through the Fingertips
- Children
Power Playground Toys
- Fingerspelling
Alphabet
- Melo Sense Autism
Sensory Wall
- Interactive
Music Technology Shows Promise in Healthcare
- The
Rotary Club of San Jose is building a 4.1-acre play area that will be
accessible to all, regardless of age or abilities
- Rotary Playground
- Treequencer
-
photos
- video
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Guide Robot for the
Blind
-
Background: Intellisight is
developing a system for guiding people who are blind and visually impaired
along a clear path. The design uses Lidar-type radar to sense the presence of
obstacles or other terrain features and warn the user.
-
Problem: Current orientation and
mobility solutions for individuals with visual impairments or blindness include
the Long Cane, guide dogs, Mowat Sensor, Trekker, and Mini Guide. While they
provide basic information suitable for getting around, they do not provide much
detail about the nearby environment.
-
A guide robot is under construction that
will provide a blind traveler with information beyond what is available with
current solutions. Intellisight is tackling the following portions of the
project: wheels, motors, motor controllers, power system, sensor array, and
computer hardware and software systems.
- The completed prototype will be able to
detect a clear path and provide object avoidance information as well as
detailed information about the local environment. It will be able to scan the
interior of a building to determine its room layout and employ GPS
information.
-
Aim: Build a user-interface that
facilitates the communication between the robot and the user as well as the
platform that supports the motorized computerized robot device.
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Projects suggested by Aman
Kumar
1. Retinal Detachment
- Aim: Design a prototype device or
app for communicating and visualizing the symptoms of retinal
detachment
2. Stutterers
- Aim: Design a prototype device or
app that addresses one of these problems experienced by stutterers:
-
-
assist health care professionals in
assessing the effects of therapy
-
provide audio feedback of stutterers
speech and video feedback of muscle disruptions that accompany
stuttering
-
connect health care professionals
with stutterers living in rural areas to provide care and
therapy
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Walker for Stroke
Survivors
-
Background: Individuals who have
experienced a stroke frequently have a weakness on one side of their body that
affects their walking and balance. Canes and walkers are often used to improve
their walking confidence and prevent falls.
-
Problem: Having a weakness on one
side of the body makes moving and steering a standard walker or a wheelchair
used as a walker difficult. It will often veer off course and may be hard to
push and maneuver, especially through doorways, up and down ramps, and in
confined spaces such as bathrooms, office cubicles, and narrow areas in parking
lots. The stability of these devices is lacking when going down a ramp or over
uneven terrain.
-
Aim: Explore designs to make it
easier for these individuals to use a walker or a wheelchair used as a
walker.
-
Design Criteria: Consider a design
that would be an add-on device to a standard walker or a wheelchair used as a
walker.
- Links:
- Sidewalker by
Alimed
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Asthma Control Project
-
Background: Asthma affects 30
million people in the US - many of them children - with $50 billion in
associated health care costs. Asthma control can be determined by measuring
airflow rates during exhalation, a term called peak expiratory flow. The value
is obtained by asking patients to exhale as quickly and as hard as they can
into a simple airflow meter that patients keep with them at home. Several apps
have also been designed to measure this flow rate by correlating the detected
sound of airflow with flow rate.
-
Problem: Existing airflow meters
are not very appealing to children and do not engage them in the management of
their condition.
-
Aim: Explore ways to change the
design or features of traditional flow meters and apps that would make them
more attractive and fun for children to use.
-
Design Criteria:
-
Other:
- Links:
- AT&T
Demonstrates Wireless Asthma Sensor
- App
for iPhone, iPad, Android Tracks Asthma Symptoms, Medications
- VitalFlo Wins at NASA Tech Briefs
Award (with video 2:03)
- Vitalflo
(with video 1:48)
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Wheelchair Adaptation for Easy
Transfers
-
Background: Ability Production
provides services, information, and resources for individuals and their support
communities who want to maximize their health and quality of life while
managing spinal cord issues. The research and experience we share through
Ability Production helps anyone who wishes to Discover the Ability in
Disability.
-
Problem: Some users of powered
wheelchairs may be able to accomplish standing transfers independently.
However, existing wheelchairs do not provide a mechanical configuration that
would assist them in accomplishing this task.
-
Aim: Explore mechanical designs
for onboard handrails that would provide easy to use, safe, independent
standing transfers including to a toilet.
-
Design Criteria: The design should
be easy and safe to use, be able to bear the user's weight during transfers,
and be adapted to existing wheelchairs.
- Links:
- Ability Production
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Customize the Wheelchair
Project
-
US Market Size
Background:
-
- About 2 million manual wheelchairs are
in use today.
- 60% of manual wheelchairs (1.2
million) are used by individuals 65 and older.
- Wheelchair use by individuals 65 and
older is five times greater than the entire population.
- The number of citizens 65 and older is
expected to grow from 40 million in 2010 to 55 million in 2020, requiring an
additional 450,000 manual wheelchairs.
- 80 million baby boomers started
turning 65 this year (10,000 a day).
-
Problem: Individuals who use
wheelchairs have little opportunity to extend their personal sense of fashion
and aesthetics to these devices. This is exacerbated by the fact that the
equipment covered by health insurance or Medicare is often the most "basic"
version with a plain design. Whereas one's choice of clothes, shoes,
accessories, and jewelry are made on a daily basis, users of wheelchairs have
to "wear" the same equipment everyday and for every occasion.
-
Aim: Explore ways to add a
personal aesthetic to wheelchairs.
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Design Criteria: |
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- The design should not alter or
permanently deface or damage the physical structure of the
wheelchair.
- The customization should be able to
easily be installed, removed, changed, cleaned, and washed by the
user.
- The design should work on a number
of popular / standard wheelchairs covered by insurance and
Medicare.
- Consider different user personas and
aesthetics (e.g. refined / elegant, modern / contemporary, smart / sporty,
premium / luxury, male / female, as well as the age of user, etc).
- Consider fabrics, metal finishes,
color, patterns, light, texture, and text elements.
- Consider a variety of usage
occasions (e.g. in-home, outdoors, party, tailgater, etc).
- The design should be inexpensive and
easy to fabricate.
- Also consider designs that would
enhance wheelchair visibility while crossing streets.
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- Links:
- Design
Flair for the Least-Stylish Devices
- Icon Wheelchairs
- Amazing
Halloween Costumes around a Wheelchair
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Dog Leash Project
-
Problem: Wheelchair users who walk
their dogs need their hands to both control their pets and propel their
wheelchairs. A leash that is simply tied to the wheelchair can get caught under
the wheels and interfere with the brake mechanism. And a strong dog may be able
to tip the owner's wheelchair.
- Users of rollators (walkers) also
experience similar problems.
-
Aim: Explore designs for a dog
leash system that will be easy for users to attach to their wheelchairs or
rollators independently, prevent the leash from being caught under the
wheelchair or rollator, and avoid being tipped over by a strong
dog.
-
Design Criteria: The improved
leash design can employ commercially available components, but must be simple
in design, lightweight, easy to attach by pet owners with limited hand
movement, provide a reliable release, and be inexpensive to
fabricate.
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Wireless Treat Dispenser
-
Problem: Many people with
disabilities, not just individuals with vision impairments, use highly trained
service dogs or monkeys. Some individuals with disabilities are not able to
reward their service animal's behavior with treats.
-
Aim: Explore a design for a simple
wireless treat dispenser for service animals that would operate by a switch or
a wireless signal.
- Links:
- Henry Evan's Blog
- Stroke AAC Success Story
(video)
- Article: Why
AAC?
- Scoop
Bowls
- X10 Products
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Household Tasks Project
-
Problem: Older adults often find
it difficult to perform everyday household tasks such as hanging curtains,
fixing household devices, cleaning windows, ironing, and making the
bed.
-
Aim: The goal of this project is
to explore and create devices that are capable of improving or restoring the
ability of older adults to attend to daily household tasks, especially the most
basic ones such as making the bed and ironing.
-
Design Criteria: The design should
be intuitive and safe to use, highly reliable, lightweight, and easy to handle,
clean, and store.
- Links:
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Shower / Bathtub / Sink / Toilet
Cleaning Project
-
Problem: For older adults to
remain in their current housing (as they desire), they must be able to
independently maintain the cleanliness of their house, including its shower,
bathtub, sink, and toilet. While there are numerous cleaning products on the
market, none adequately addresses the problem. [What are some of their
limitations?]
-
Aim: The aim of this project is to
explore and design a solution for the shower / bathtub / sink / toilet cleaning
problem for an older adult with a disability.
-
Design Criteria: The design(s)
must be economical, esthetically pleasing, easy and safe to use while
performing the cleaning task. The design will depend on the user's
abilities.
- Links:
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Educational Activities for Children
with Disabilities
-
Background: Resource Area for
Teaching (RAFT) creates hands-on activity kits which nine thousand educators
use to help nearly one million students master important concepts in school and
after school each year.
-
A large percentage of the students these
educators serve have disabilities (physical, mental, or emotional). RAFT is
particularly popular with these educators because our hands-on activities often
seem to "open up" disabled students and get them excited about learning and
participating.
-
Problem: Special education
teachers report that they often wish there were more activities focused on
children with disabilities.
-
Aim: Investigate and develop new
educational activities appropriate for children with disabilities. This may
include mechanical and/or computer software solutions that will provide
interactive access for these learners.
-
Design Criteria: The design must
be appropriate for the intellectual and disability level of the students; must
be very low cost; safe to use; easy to store, setup, explain, use, and ship;
and must fit into the students' educational plan.
-
Other: Access to teachers and
students will be provided.
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Projects with veterans with spinal
cord injury
1. Problems and needs expressed at
SCI Peer Support Group Meeting
- Manipulating objects:
- picking up dropped items, especially from
under tables or chairs
- reaching items high on shelves
- carrying items such as
groceries
- retrieving mail from mailbox
- BBQ implements
- handling a bank card at an ATM
- handling money - both coins and
bills
- Accessing the
real-world:
- charging system for powered wheelchair
users
- iPhone camera mount for a photographer
with C5/6 quadriplegia
- opening doors
- opening a 2-liter bottle
- preparing food and cooking tasks,
including making sandwiches and heating soup
- controlling appliances such as the TV,
telephone, electric bed, music system, nurse call, etc.
- HouseMate ECU for Android
Configurator
- VoiceIR Environmental Voice
Controller Configurator
- transferring to / from wheelchair to bed
or shower
- tele-visiting / tele-working with family /
co-workers at home/office during hospital stay
- selecting groceries remotely for
delivery
- design for an arm ergometer that would
allow users to strap themselves in
- a joystick design that would accommodate a
variety of shaft geometries
- a cup holder that can fit on any
wheelchair
- Recreational
activities:
- Caregiver (family, nurse, and
therapist) assistance
2. Fishing rod, wheelchair
brackets, accessible digital camera, lap tray system
- A device to operate a fishing rod for a
user without use of upper extremity - to reel the line in/out, lock the reel,
etc
- some existing
products from Broadened Horizons
- A bracket design for new power wheelchairs
that would allow use of an overhead sling system
- A bracket system for power wheelchairs
that would work with a mobile arm support system
- A device that would allow a high level
quadriplegia (C4) to use a digital camera. It need not be able to adjust
position of camera, but it should include a feature to snap a photo for users
with diminished hand function.
- some existing
products from Broadened Horizons
- A lap tray system that is compatible with
the new wheelchair designs
- Links:
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Projects for persons recovering
from stroke
Standing Straight
Project
-
Problem: Persons recovering from
stroke (CVA) often have a significant shift in their perceived center of
gravity. This causes them to shift their weight to their unaffected side, with
their head and / or trunk at a 20 degree angle, even though they think they are
sitting or standing straight. This has a significant negative effect on the
tone of their affected limbs, causing them to become more
spastic.
-
Aim: The goal of this project is
to develop a dynamic device that would aid the person to realize their true
center thus enabling better rehabilitation of their limbs.
-
Other: A similar device could be
used for people recovering from back injury, alerting them when they bend at
the back rather than keeping it straight during lifting.
Cellphone and Tablet
Holder
-
Aim: Explore designs for a device
that would make it easier to hold and use cellphone and tablets with one hand.
This would serve individuals who have had a stroke, who have arthritis,
cerebral palsy, or are amputees.
Activities of Daily
Living
-
Aim: Explore designs for devices
that would help persons who have had a stroke, who have arthritis, cerebral
palsy, have limited arm or hand strength, or are amputees to perform activities
of daily living such as cooking, cleaning, or other common household
tasks.
- Links:
- Tablet Design - UC
Ergonomics
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Other project ideas
- Accessible interfaces for
commonly-used devices:
- iPods / iPads / mp3
players
- Cellphones
- Remote controls
-
- Toys for kids with
disabilities
-
- Projects benefitting children
with Autism
-
- Projects benefitting parents
with disabilities
-
- Projects supporting equal access
to extracurricular sports activities for students with disabilities
-
- Revisit projects listed in NSF
guide:
- Engineering Senior Design Projects to
Aid Persons with Disabilities
-
- Student-defined projects:
- Interview, observe, and discuss
assistive technology needs with an individual with a disability or older adult.
Address their need to participate in one of the following areas by designing an
adaptation to an existing device / tool or creating a new, more useful
one.
-
-
Activities of Daily Living -
cooking, showering or bathing, dressing, cleaning, housework, yard work,
employment, education, shopping, commuting, etc
-
Sports and Exercise - walking,
running, indoor and outdoor sports, etc
-
Leisure Activities and Hobbies -
collecting, model making, crafts, board games & videogames,
etc
- Project Coach:
- David L. Jaffe, MS
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