Personal Design Blog
This design post will show the progression of ID6 (DNH603_20se2) and it's assessment items A1, A2 and A3. Assignment 1 presents the task of identifying an ordinary interaction, object or system in everyday life and enhancing it. Assignment 2 is the research section for assignment 3 and will follow the design research of an assistance device. Assignment 3 will show the interactive model as well as the final product progression .
A1: 25/07/2020
A start
The first thing that I need to do for this assignment is chose an everyday interaction, object or system that I can enhance using an Arduino. My initial ideas led me to approach designing something cooking or kitchen related. this is an area that already has a lot of products in place but that also means that there is a lot of room for improvements or innovation and the potential for a product that will enhance the users experience. While brainstorming ideas one that really stood out to me was designing a chopping board that also acts as a scale for weighing food, this scale can also draw upon a library of nutritional information to display to the user the micro-nutrients within their desired weight.
A2: 26/07/2020
My group
I have teamed up with Caleb Olsen, Ryan Jones and Coen Lange, together we have decided to address theme 1: assistive device and we have specifically chosen paraplegia in the household. between us we will research different areas and identify issues that we can potentially produce a useful product for. The area that i have decided to look into is paraplegia in the kitchen, the reason I think this will be a good area to start is that there is already a large amount of assistive devices or devices in general that have been designed for the area. I will iterate upon these designs based upon research and apply it to a user in a wheelchair to create a positive experience for them. There is also a large amount of task that are completed to held within the kitchen area. these include cooking, eating, make coffee/tea, socializing ETC so I feel there is an excellent pool of potential areas to improve upon.
A2: 01/08/2020
With an idea in mind of what I would like to research I began to watch Youtube videos of individuals in wheelchairs cooking in their kitchen. The first video that I watched was by a Youtube called Wheels2Walking and he interviews a woman called Ally Grizzard. Ally Showed how she navigated her kitchen and also talked about some tips and tricks that they followed to help her in this area.
Some important things that I picked up on while Ally spoke was that she was very careful when it came to carrying hot items such as her frying pan or pots. She did state that she learnt the hard way by burning herself really bad when she first began to use a wheelchair. She also spoke about using the corner of her kitchen to have extra space while she prepped the food.
I also watched a video by Tae McKenzie where she brought forward the use of a rolling cart to ensure that less trips are made to the fridge to retrieve food. This is a useful thing but it does add more maneuvering complications and this could be improved uppon
A2: 09/08/2020
Statistics
In a paper titled - Availability and need of home adaptations for personal mobility among individuals with spinal cord injury some staggering statistics were found surrounding the need that people in wheelchairs have for specific home accessibility changes. 79% of individuals need an adjustable kitchen table so that they can work on it at an appropriate level. another 76% require adjustable kitchen shelving so they can reach items without the help of and assistant. These accessibility features would make a world of difference to those individuals that require them, allowing them to cook more easily by themselves.
Hertig-Godeschalk, A., Gemperli, A., Arnet, U., & Hinrichs, T. (2018). Availability and need of home adaptations for personal mobility among individuals with spinal cord injury. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 41(1), 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/10790268.2017.1308995
A2: 16/08/2020
Existing Products
The designs above have a large range in their use. The image on the left shows and tray that has multiple areas for cutlery, bowls and chopping boards to be used and it clips onto the users wheelchair. From the specs of the product it shows that it has heat resistant plastic on one of the layers to allow for the user to place hot items on top of it and still remain safe. This is a sturdy product and it definitely allows for a lot of function, providing the user with more options. One issue I have is that to to remove the tray the user has to unclip it from the chair, and in a situation where they have burnt themselves or are in an emergency situation this could prove to be a serious flaw in the design.
The center image shows another tray that simply sits on the users lap, it does not have the same functionality as the other design and is pore targeted towards just eating on alone. there is also a range of cutlery that provides users with grip issues or decreased hand dexterity with additional strapping or grip. It's important to give people a sense of individualism and give them every opportunity to do something for themselves
A3: 19/10/2020
Interactive Product
For this assessment I am to begin designing an interactive model / product based on the information gathered in assignment 2, and to incorporate that model into an ecosystem with the other members of my group, Ryan, Coen and Caleb. Based on the information and issues that I gathered during the research conducted, I believe that a product that allows a person in a wheelchair to safely transport food around the kitchen such as a tray but also allows the user to take pots off their stove etc. I believe that it is important that the tray/platform is self stabilizing so the users do not have to worry about spilling or tipping their food/ dangerous materials.
To begin with I start by looking into more detail around the existing products that are out there on the market, these will include trays as well as the gyro system that will be used to provide the stabilization
These Trays show a range of different and useful design decisions that could provide a useful insight into what works and what doesn't. (left to right) the first one is a large tray that hangs over the edge of the arm rest and is attached further back. The cut out allows for the tray to be closer to the user and provide more space either side. The second tray is much smaller but folds down out of the way, which is a useful feature to think about. The third tray is a clear tray that vices onto the metal struts of the wheelchair. The 4th also clamps onto the metal struts but uses a different approach. and finally the last one uses Velcro straps to attach itself.
These products here are examples of self stabilizing platforms that could be incorporated into the final tray design. The smaller designs on the right only use 1 servo per axis where as the tray on the left uses 2 servo's for 2 the 2 axis. The use of more servo's means that the product has overall more strength and the weight of food or pots will be more easily managed.
Incorporating both the wheelchair tray and the gyroscopic stabilization presents the potential for something like the image seen above. The usefulness of the stabilization means that if the user were to move forward or backwards the tray would adjust to that, keeping their food safe, this also goes for rotating left and right.
A3: 19/10/2020
Interactive Product
Taking the information learned I began by creating a design in fusion360 and then using the technical drawing function to create a template that I could then move to my material and begin cutting out.
Here you can see the template placed over the top of the wood as well as with a plate so I could ensure that there was enough room for it to rotate and still hold cutlery, a plate and cup.
Dotting out the shapes for the cuts I was able to transfer the template, next woudl come the cutting.
Here the cutout pieces are, you can see that there is the Centre "foam pieces" and the covering "heat resistant plastic". I also went ahead and cutout the weight reduction holes as well as the slots for the Arduino, power supply and servos.
Here I put the servo's into the product, they fit nicely and from here I would begin to code, and use the tri axis sensor to achieve the gyroscopic stabilization.
With the servos attached and the code uploaded I had the servo's working, one issue was that there isn't enough power supply with the 9v battery pack. each one of the servo's uses 6v and the 6 batteries do not supply enough current to them.
A3: 20/10/2020
Interactive Product
To work around the issue I tried to wire up 4 batteries in series to provide a separate power supply of 6v to each of the motors, while this did produce enough to run the motors there was a lot of power drop and I wasn't sure that soldering them together was safe. in the end I purchased a bigger power supply to run the whole thing
I glued all the pieces together and spray painted the product to the desired colour scheme, there was enough gap so that both the platform and internal frame could move without contacting the walls
Here in order from left to right, the user picks up the tray, adjusts the clamps either side and then places their food onto the center tray.
To complement the model here are some further context shots that have been rendered out.
the code for the product is here
#include <Servo.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include "SparkFun_MMA8452Q.h"
#include <Wire.h>
#include "SparkFun_MMA8452Q.h"
Servo servoLeft;
Servo servoRight;
Servo servoFront;
Servo servoBack;
MMA8452Q accel;
Servo servoRight;
Servo servoFront;
Servo servoBack;
MMA8452Q accel;
int posy;
int posx;
int posL;
int posR;
int posB;
int posF;
int posx;
int posL;
int posR;
int posB;
int posF;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.println("MMA8452Q Basic Reading Code!");
Wire.begin();
servoLeft.attach(5 );
servoRight.attach(2);
servoBack.attach(3);
servoFront.attach(4);
servoLeft.write(0);
servoRight.write(0);
servoBack.write(0);
servoFront.write(0);
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.println("MMA8452Q Basic Reading Code!");
Wire.begin();
servoLeft.attach(5 );
servoRight.attach(2);
servoBack.attach(3);
servoFront.attach(4);
servoLeft.write(0);
servoRight.write(0);
servoBack.write(0);
servoFront.write(0);
if (accel.begin() == false) {
Serial.println("Not Connected. Please check connections and read the hookup guide.");
while (1);
}
}
Serial.println("Not Connected. Please check connections and read the hookup guide.");
while (1);
}
}
void loop() {
if (accel.available()) {
Serial.print(accel.getCalculatedX(), 3);
Serial.print("\t");
Serial.print(accel.getCalculatedY(), 3);
Serial.print("\t");
Serial.println();
{
posy = accel.y;
posy /= 100;
if (posy < 30)
if (accel.available()) {
Serial.print(accel.getCalculatedX(), 3);
Serial.print("\t");
Serial.print(accel.getCalculatedY(), 3);
Serial.print("\t");
Serial.println();
{
posy = accel.y;
posy /= 100;
if (posy < 30)
posR = map(posy, -10, 10, 160, 40);
servoRight.write(posR);
servoRight.write(posR);
posL = map(posy, -10, 10, 40, 160);
servoLeft.write(posL);
servoLeft.write(posL);
delay(1000);
}
{
posx = accel.x;
posx /= 150;
if (posx < 30)
posB = map(posx, -10, 10, 20 , 160);
servoBack.write(posB);
}
{
posx = accel.x;
posx /= 150;
if (posx < 30)
posB = map(posx, -10, 10, 20 , 160);
servoBack.write(posB);
posF = map(posx, -10, 10, 160, 20);
servoFront.write(posF);
delay(1000);
}
}
}
servoFront.write(posF);
delay(1000);
}
}
}
A3: 21/10/2020
Interactive Product
Interaction Design
I think this reading and interaction design is incredibly interesting. The way the creator of the discipline recognized this emerging trend where the digital world could be developed and designed for using a user centered design approach such as industrial design but detaching itself from 3D and moving to 2D. It is interesting how he identified the issue of not just making something functional but also ensuring that it is aesthetically pleasing and provides long lasting happiness to the user. The emphasis on understanding the user and their place within the context is a driving factor for the final outcome.
First Principles of Interaction Design (Revised & Expanded)
This reading dives deeply into each aspect of designing a digital interface, from the extra options of undoing unwanted steps to the aesthetics that increase productivity as well as the anatomy that encourages giving the user breathing room to increase their confidence and abilities within the program. The information within this reading holds fundamental principles that greatly increase ones ability to design a coherent, effective and efficient user interface .
