During this contemporary era of science and technology, we have fortunately been gifted with an exponentially growing and inclusive design community. In other words, the new innovations that have recently come to light have been created with a variety of individuals and their abilities in mind. This concept of creating either an invention or a tool to suit the needs of either an individual or a group has been defined as human-centered design.
As part of our work in the Seminar in STEAM class with 3D design and 3D printers, I've been brainstorming solutions for challenges that individuals experience with arthritis of the hands. First, some fellow STEAM classmates of mine and I began thinking of everyday tasks that aren't inclusive or give people with arthritis difficulty. We even took a moment to consider the emotional, mental, social, etc. impact(s) that may be prevalent on such individuals as a result. We then began to think about how these experiences could be improved. For example, how could writing or the process of putting on mascara be improved by eliminating the need for grip strength and/or fine motor function? How might a wrist brace help support someone's joints in order to ease them through carrying out everyday activities?
Throughout this step of the invention process, I created 4 initial ideas, as seen in the pictures below:
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From top to bottom, a wrist brace for hand and
digital support, and an adjustable wrist stand
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From top to bottom, an index finger
apparatus, and a set of a glove
and pencil sleeve |
The device proposals above mostly focused on solving the most prevalent and common difficulties present with weaker grip strength and weaker fine motor function as a result of arthritis of the hand and/or wrist. For example, the index finger apparatus found sketched above is intended for one to use to decrease the need for grip strength during writing through using the index finger to guide the writing tool. The glove and pencil sleeve just below it is aimed at decreasing the need for fine motor accuracy and grip strength by not only increasing the circumference of the pencil but also attaching a layer of velcro to the pencil sleeve to attach to the velcro glove.
Additionally, the wrist brace and adjustable wrist stand both aim to support the wrist through everyday tasks such as writing or lifting hand-held items.
After assessing each option, I decided that the index finger apparatus would likely be the most successful at making an impact and would therefore be the best option for me to pursue. From there, I sketched up a more detailed version of it.
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(First drawing)
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As my project came along, I began to further add in details and change specifics in order to improve my design. I faced a few challenges along the way; originally I had decided that I would use three pieces of velcro in order to secure the device to the index finger. However, upon trying a prototype, the velcro restricted the movement of the finger. In order to combat this, I figured out that a mixture of both velcro and rubber bands would work best.
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| (Second drawing) |
Over time, my device became more refined and simplified. For example, I originally had thought that it would be best to secure the writing utensil within the apparatus via clips. After attempting to design such a clip, I decided that it would not only be easier, but also more user-friendly to simply hold the utensil in place with smaller rubber bands. Instead of designing said clip that would require not only a hinge but also a key-and-lock system, a simple notch for the rubber bands to catch on had relatively less complexity and therefore less room for error to occur.
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| (Third drawing) |
The next step in my designing process was to take my sketches and drawings to a digital platform. Via the platform of Tinkercad, I created an STL file which enabled me to not only be able to create a three-dimensional portrayal of it but also enabled me to further refine the details and decide the dimensions and scale I would use.
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(Three different perspectives of the device from the digital
STL file) |
During this process, I was surprised at how much time I was spending just double-checking my work and making minor edits. There were times where I even found myself fiddling with details to make sure something was centered or connected properly. With this being said, I definitely learned that computer-aided design (CAD) definitely puts one's attention to detail to the test; not only do you have to have a clear idea in mind in order to start somewhere, but each part of the digital building process also requires a precision that is hardly matched anywhere else in the invention process. The counterargument could be made that one doesn't necessarily need to be so meticulous with the details. However, one would be compromising efficacy in an attempt to spend less time designing. In other words, the functionality of the product would fall victim to the time investment of the designer.
On top of this, we must consider that between the STL file and the final 3D-printed product, the 3D printer is constructing exactly what is encoded in the file. Thus, it is crucial to make sure that this STL file most accurately reflects the goal for the final product, and by association, it is just as necessary to have the skills to make an STL file that does so. While I didn't experience any first prototypes that weren't functional as a result of faulty or incomplete design from this project, I can anticipate where different errors could have been made due to a lack of attention to detail and diligence.
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| (final product) |
I spent the majority of my time paying very close attention to the details of my product and thus if I might be so humble to say, my final product was printed with little-to-know flaws; it definitely had printed the way that I had expected/hoped. All that being said and as I mentioned earlier, one thing I did have to adjust with my product was how I attached the apparatus to the finger; previously, (and as I mentioned earlier) I used velcro but after trying that, I found out that a mixture of velcro and rubber bands would work best.
Throughout the entire duration of this project, I would have to say that my favorite part was developing further the solution I had picked and refining its details. I think that the most challenging part of this project for me was to brainstorm a wide variety of solutions; I had found that it took too much time for me to get involved in each issue in order to brainstorm ideas for it that I had trouble switching issues and brainstorming new solutions.
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| (final product) |
All in all, I really enjoyed this project. I've definitely gained some fantastic experience and knowledge through the process of working with tinkercad. Before designing my assistive piece of technology, I hadn't had much experience with STL files and 3D printing. This was an excellent opportunity for that.
In reflecting, I've also noticed that I'm a bit more compassionate with other people and their abilities. While it isn't necessarily directly related to the designing process that I went through for this assistive technology device, expanding my awareness of how other people compensate with their given abilities was a huge part of our brainstorming stage. This would, by far, have to be my biggest takeaway; as Plato said
Be kind. Every person you meet is fighting a difficult battle.
Beyond the expansion of my emotional intelligence, I gained a first-hand perspective on the importance of art and its integration with science, technology, engineering, and math. Prior, I believe I understood the importance of design in theory and I could grasp how, for example, an architect may need both their mathematical knowledge as well as their expertise in design. That being said, I now understand that the critical factor of design runs so much deeper than this- in everything that we do, there is an art to it. After this project, I've really begun to better understand the A in STEAM.
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