Lend A Hand

          Between the work period of March 9 - March 23, the team has wrapped up any reprints that needed to be made to fully construct the prototype device. Particularly, the function of the clamp's mouth was finished. Additionally, the team has assembled the prototype device that consists of the ratchet system, the rotational clamp, and the retractable hook mechanisms as shown in Figure 1. The figure also shows an "in use" snapshot of how the device is aimed to work. Components were acquired from 3D printing services like ASME-UH and available suppliers such as Home Depot, Lowes, and McMaster Carr.  Figure 1: Device Assembly with Size Reference Trash Can Figure 2 shows the previous outer cam which was being used on the left and the updated outer cam that will be used for validation. The cam has been updated by introducing a larger cam geometry, allowing the clamp to open farther. This was accomplished by taking measurements of the cam length from the previous design and

     Throughout the work period of February 4 to February 17, the team has finished 3D printing and is currently waiting on fasteners and bolts. The ratchet system was printed and was able to fit properly into the t-slot extrusion after sanding down  and evening out some surfaces. Some fasteners have also been collected at local hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's. The clamp has also been finalized and rotates as intended with the use of bearings.  Figure 1: Ratchet System Slotted into Aluminum Extrusion Figure 2: Assembled Rotational Clamp with Sleeve Bearing Carriage and 3D Prints Figure 3: Assembled Sliding Handle Bar       Currently, some specialized framing brackets and fasteners are currently being sorted out through the local vendor as there was a delay on their part. The team has placed (not paid for) the required order with the vendor, and are waiting for  them to respond once they have acqu ired the items. The team's plan if the vendor does not receive the p

          For the work period of December 11 - February 3, what work toward your team's project has been completed?  Please provide a description of tasks that are completed, as well as tasks currently in progress. During the work period, the majority of completed work included device redesigns and accumulation of materials. Over the winter break, the team made efforts to make sure that the entire device would work by the specifications that were established. Multiple decision reinforcements were made to improve the reliability of the device. First, the clamp changed its design to have torsional springs (highlighted in blue) inserted between the inside and outside clamp as shown in Figure 1. This is to ensure that the clamp always closes to the default position after each rotation. Figure 1: Clamp Torsion Springs Default (left) and Open (right) Positions For the clamp to rotate as intended, bearings were placed between the outer and inner shafts. The bearing allows the inner shaft

  For the work period of November 11 - November 25 what work toward your team's project has been completed?  Please provide a description of tasks that are completed, as well as tasks currently in progress. From November 11 th up to November 25 th , Team 30 has established the tying mechanism design, established the design of the rest of the device, and analyzed individual device aspects for validation on the device’s intended movement. The team has also built up a Bill of Materials for the indented pieces of the solution (aluminum extrusions, wooden base, t-bolts, etc.) and held continued weekly meetings with the professor for technical advice on design review writing and the DR presentation slides. A visual of the tying mechanism, a clamp piece, is shown in Figure 1.    Figure 1: Demonstration of tying mechanism when open and closed As the semester is coming to a close, the team is finalizing the dimensions for all of the mechanisms to ensure there are proper tolerances and no m

               Some of the tasks that Team 30 has completed from October 28th to November 11th include regularly scheduled meetings with the professor for advice in the guidance of the project (advice on validation plan and project constraints), a meeting with a potential stakeholder to gain insight on the need of the project, and further research on developing a device to mechanically tie an overhand knot. The tasks that are currently in progress include finishing the design of a tying mechanism that successfully ties a trash bag, finishing the design of the overall device by combining the tying mechanism with support, and researching the materials that are most suitable in building the tying mechanism as well as the overall product itself. Team 30’s plan for near term work is to prepare as early as possible for the design review. The major milestones the team hopes to achieve is the finalization of the tying mechanism and validation plan. For the tying mechanism, research on tyin

Our proposal is to build an affordable add-on that decreases the effort and time required for a single armed individual to tie, take out, and replace their trash. The goal of the solution is that, for an single-armed amputee, the full process of tying, removing, and replacing a trash bag takes a reduced amount of time compared to how it would with no assistance. Based on the goals mentioned, maintaining a maximum time limit of 10 seconds and having a maximum trash load and securing force of 20 lbs will make the device more effective over manually tying the device. However, this will be one of the main challenges for this project. Having an optimized tying system that will meet these requirements is crucial for success. Currently, the design is relying on a rotating tying mechanism where a pole rotates up to 650 degrees and a hook that holds the bag to be able to go up and down 4 inches to secure the knot. To ensure this device will be useful for most single-arm amputees, the mounting