đź’« Manufacturing Skills
đź’« Structural Analysis
đź’« Research Abilities
⚡ Short Timeframe
⚡ Material Choices
The fourth major project I worked on was the creation of a device to help increase the quality of life of our client- Kevin. After experiencing a stroke, Kevin had many different aspects of his life impacted. In this project, we were given a lot of freedom, thus we were given very few initial constraints:
My team and I decided to help Kevin get back to playing one of his favourite sports- golf. Post-stroke, Kevin has trouble balancing for long periods of time on his own. We, therefore, created a portable device that Kevin can stand in and lean on for balance anywhere on the golf course- the Ace Maker. The device supports the weight of an average adult male and allows for the user to make a complete swing with a golf club without the use of good balance. The Ace Maker contains a large wooden frame with several supports and a ring that wraps around the user’s waists. The ring is on an axis that allows for forwards and backwards leaning but prevents falling due to poor balance. The Ace Maker’s supports are removable, allowing for the device to be folded up and dragged around the golf course on wheels, facilitating transportation.
To the right contain images of the general flow of our design process. We began with a simple idea- how could we get Kevin to balance while playing golf WITHOUT impeding his swing? We originally started with a simple leaning bar that Kevin would be able to take with him, and eventually added on a ring connected to an axis, allowing for more stable support while maintaining rotation. Looking at the third photo, we then added a dual ring system to allow for dual-axis rotation left, right, up and down. Our final design as pictured in image 4 eventually ended up removing this, however.
We started off with a simple leaning bar due to inspiration from things like skating-assistance bars, which have been tried and true to help with balance while skating. Considering the rotational movement required for golf, we then added on a ring component that would hold the user upright and rotate along with them. The dual-axis idea was scrapped due to a lack of resources available and time constraints but would be perfect for future iterations. After having the basic design down, we wanted to make the device portable so that it was easy to carry around any golf course. This caused us to implement hinges to the wood frame, wheels to the front, replace our original supports with removable supports, and attach velcro straps to hold the folded device together. During the testing phase of the original device, supports when leaning to the side and front were weaker than expected. This caused us to add side “wings” that helped support side leaning weight and fabric straps that prevented the apparatus from leaning too far forwards.
This project was the first time I had the experience of creating a human-sized device with heavy-duty materials like metal and wood. It helped to vastly increased my craftsmanship abilities, further hone my ability to iterate and problem solve, and do research in the biomedical field. Most importantly, however, this project helped me understand the clear differences between theory and practice when it comes to fabricating human-sized devices. Despite doing structural analysis utilizing the method of joints, imperfections in our wood material made holding the weight of a human body a difficult task. Due to this roadblock, several “mini” solutions had to be implemented in the device so it could fully support the weight of a human male. This is where things like the fabric straps and wings helped solve our problem. In conclusion, there are many things that could go wrong when translating theory to practice, which this project helped me understand in more depth.