Assignment 2: Low Fidelity Prototyping

For this assignment, I was tasked with developing and prototyping low fidelity models of a support in order to help a young man, who was diagnosed with severe ataxia, swim. In order to tackle this unique problem, I first had a brainstorming session where I identified key components of such a device that would be able to immerse Liam partially while still providing support and aiding in movement. To start, I developed a simple sketch of a “buoyant square” with floatation aids such as pool noodles in this case on each side of the square. I also sketched the idea of a circular version of this, and plotted out various stages or versions of this:

Here I outlined ideas for the square or circle and also developed ideas for the center support, which in this case could be a vest or a harness. Additionally, I added handles to it in order for better maneuverability and control for those helping Liam. This was prototyped in the picture below, and I unfortunately had to use straws instead of K’nex due to availability:

The playdough represents the things added to the edges to keep it buoyant.

For my second idea I tried to make a smaller version that offered more mobility and used the vest idea primarily. I ultimately came up with the idea below:

This idea features a vest that had multiple areas of attachment for a small circle of flotation devices. By offering the multiple areas on the vest to be attached to, the vest will float in a certain orientation, allowing for the uses of different strokes in the water, and different orientations, such as perpendicular and parallel to the plane of water:

Here is the final version, with the balls representing the different areas the flotation part could be attached to, or it could be a simple tube.

For my next idea, I took inspiration from the large plastic balls that can roll over water with a person inside. I felt that if the bottom part was filled with water up to the center line, this could replicate that idea but half underwater. This idea also featured a harness and had an air slot on the top half.

For my final two ideas, I wanted to develop two systems that could offer mechanical assistance in moving through the water. This first idea acts as a sort of car that a person could operate from the poolside in order to help get Liam moving through the water in order to assist him on days he is having more trouble:

This device would also have a harness as well as a floor panel under Liam in order to catch him if he fell out of the harness. One flaw in the design is that it would be have to be built to a specific height according to the pool and would need to be slightly weighted near the bottom so the wheels touch the bottom of the pool. The Styrofoam sphere are the wheels.

Finally, I went with another idea of mechanically aided movement that would be rather expensive, but might offer the best possible solution. Essentially, the vest I showed before or some other harness would be attached to a long metal arm which would be connected to a rail built on the outer edge of the pool. The arm would move along the track with Liam as he move around the pool, and adjust length based on how far out into the pool he was:

Most of these solutions rely on a harness of some sort such as the vest I describes, so developing that would be critical in building any of the other solution I offered. Here is a final picture of all the sketches and prototypes:

Thanks for reading,

Tim