For this assignment, we were challenged to come up with possible swim support for a impatient suffering from severe ataxia. The support should help him to float and can not let his head fall in the water. That’s why normal floaters are not a good solution.

In order to find possible solutions, I tried to split the problem in three different parts, the flotation part, the rigid support part and the movement part (the part responsible for moving the kid around the pool that would be controlled by an supporting adult).

I did not have a brainstorm session where I seated down just to think about the problem, however, I had many small session throughout my days. During showers, before sleeping, while walking to classes and etc… After a long time thinking about it, I had some ideas in my mind that I developed though sketching. After sketching, I went to OEDK on Thursday and Friday to prototype them.

In what follow, I will describe each possible solution and show pictures of the prototypes and sketches.

First Solution:

 

The first solution is very simple. It consists of a carbon fiber frame(or any other reasonably light material), connected to 4 floaters. The top side of the frame have to be covered by a plate with a that can be opened, allowing the supporters to put the inpatient in the position shown in the sketch above, the plate serves to not let the teenager head fall into the water. The large size of the bars that connect the frame to the floaters provide great stability to the system, keeping the kid safe(which is our main priority). To move the frame on the water, a string can be attached to it and pulled by the supporters.

Second solution:

This is a floating vest. The vest has a rigid part which keep the head and body of the inpatient in a safe position. It is attached to floaters by long bars which, as in the first solution, preserve the stability in all conditions, avoiding the risk of sudden turns. To move the inpatient inside the pool, the supporter should push or pull it.

Third solution:

This is a very different type of solution. It consists of a chair connected by a rigid bar to a trail. The chair has belts that keep inpatient in a safe and comfortable position while it moves on the trail, controlled remotely by the supporter. The only issue with this solution is the that it requires a trail to be built inside the pool, and this might be complicated, specially because keeping materials inside water is very hard due to wear and corrosion.

Fourth solution:

This fourth solution is a boat connect to a rigid support with belts that make it possible for the supporters to fit the inpatient in a comfortable and safe position as indicated in the sketch above. The boat has to be large to not have its float ability affected by the weight of the teenager, which is a drawback, but if the pool is sufficiently large, it is not a big problem. The boat can be controlled remotely by the supporters outside of the pool which is a advantage. Note that the boat has a small motor on its back side.

Fifth solution: (and most creative/complicated one)

Here, the idea was to use a drone to help our inpatient. He would be tied to a platform as indicated in the sketch in a safe and comfortable position, and a plate would be used to avoid its head falling in the water as in the first solution. This platform would contain a set of sensors and actuators that would work to keep the inpatient depth in the water constant and also, avoid dangerous rotations. This platform would be also connect to two propellers that would be responsible for generating enough lift to the system. The movement of the system could be also remotely controlled by the supporters. This solution would give the teenager the best swimming experience because it is the least intrusive one, however it has some problems, such as cost, a possibly complicated control system(I don’t have enough knowledge about the topic to evaluate the level of complexity of it), difficult for the supporters to control (they would have to learn how to fly a drone). These problem might possibly be too big to make this project real.