For our second assignment, the low fidelity prototyping, we had to develop an apparatus for Liam; a 16 yeas old teenager that has a condition called ataxia, which makes his muscles tight and prevents him from controlling his movements, that allows him to go to the pool safely.
This apparatus must follow these specifications:
- Allow the majority of his body underwater, excluding his neck;
- Provide truck support;
- Be easy to maneuver by supporting adults;
- Tolerate pool water and storage outside.
For the first part of the assignment; the brainstorming and planning, I developed 20 rough sketches / thumbnails that could feasible or unfeasible ideas:
From these ideas I chose 5 that suited better the objective! (There is a green mark next to the ones chosen).
After brainstorming and choosing the best ideas I decided to create more detailed sketches that would help me on the second part of the assignment. the low fidelity prototypes creations.
Here are the more detailed sketches and the prototypes I created:
- Seated support:
This support allows Liam to work with his arms movement once it doesn’t allow him to move inside the pool. The seat is made of nylon, so it is very resistant and it is also made especially for him, in a way that offer him trunk support by being deep enough to hold him by his armpits. The support itself has rubber endings in order to protect him from injuries.
To built this prototype I used red straws (that gave it strength and support) and pipe cleaners (that gave it some flexibility) to hold it together. Building this prototype didn’t give me a lot of work, but I will explain the problems later on the post…
2. Seated support with elastic:
This support allows Liam to work with his legs movement once he can bounce up and down inside the pool. The elastic band is strong enough to support him without letting his neck submerge for long periods of time, just for the moments when he jumps. Like the previous prototype the seat is made of nylon. For this model the base stays outside the pool screwed on the ground and it can spin, so it is safer for him and allows adults to help him both inside and outside the pool.
To build this prototype I used “kinetics” (that gave it lots of strength and support), pipe cleaners (that gave it some flexibility), a foam ball (to connect the elastic to the seat) and “play doh” (that balanced the prototype).
3. Rubber mattress support:
This support allows Liam to work with his balance once he can touch the ground and still be with his head safe above the water. The rubber mattress and the seat together give him trunk support by going deep enough to hold him by his armpits. Another extra function that comes with the mattress is that we could use it to put tuff over it, like toys and water bottles.
To build this prototype I used felt (because the ease of working with and malleability). It took me a few tries to make the seat fit in the hole I cut.
4. Float with sandals:
This support allows Liam to work with his legs and balance. It is important to notice that the float has to be big / strong enough to hold Liam above water. The float combined with the sandals attached to it give him enough trunk support by being adjustable to his height. A consideration I made is whether the connection strips should be malleable or stiff… I think they should be stiff, so it takes the stress from his legs.
To build this prototype I used braided pipe cleaners (that gave it some strength and flexibility) and felt (because the ease of working with).
5. Float with weights:
This support allows Liam to work with his arms and balance. Like the previous prototype, the float has to be able to support Liam’s weight. The weights are built out of plastic balls filled with sand, so they are weather resistant. These weights give him enough stability and balance and can also be replaced to heavier ones to follow his weight changes.
To build this prototype I used braided pipe cleaners (that gave it some strength and flexibility), felt and wood balls (that had the needed weight).
MY CHALLENGE:
I believe that my biggest challenge for this project was building the seats. They has to be light enough to make the supports resist. I wasn’t able to achieve the desired shape with any of the materials provided, so I decided to use the Crayola “Model magic” and I molded it over 3 rubbers balls, that gave me the perfect shape and size.
After a couple days I went back to the OEDK to check the seats as I noticed that they were already dried but that they also had some cracks. When I tried to remove them from the template I completely lost 2 of them, but luckily I saved one of them and could use on the prototypes.
Here is a picture of all the prototypes together (where I replaced the missing seats with rubber balls):
I hope you have liked my ideas/sketches/prototypes and I see you next on the third assignment: 2D drawings!
