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Your team will hold a gate review with your guide at the end of each semester. This page should document any information needed for the review, as well as outcomes.
MSD I: Reflection and Readiness for MSD II Work
Status Review
Current state of the project
The expected performance of our design is to assist a wheelchair user go to the bathroom in a safe, efficient, and comfortable way. Our device will raise and lower using water hydraulics to the preferred height of the user which will assist in the transfer process. When the person first looks at the device, it will be easy to understand and will also be inviting to use. The system will be stable and safe to use with no sharp edges or pinch points. Our device will give the user the ability to clean themselves without having to touch the toilet. There will be various supports on our device like a torso bar that will flip down over the users lap to assure the user is stable during use. Our device will have the ability to be cleaned with normal cleaning products and will also be ADA compliant. With little to no risk of failure, our device will be successful in a true bathroom setting.
The current requirements we are following helped us determine the expected performance of our device. Through further testing, our device will cover most if not all the requirements during MSD II. The current requirements live doc can be found here.
Figure 01: Current Requirements
- Address any issues raised during your Detailed Design Review.
During the team's detailed design review, there were a few concerns raised with the design:- Water inlet needs to have some form of flow control to regulate actuation velocity and acceleration for different user weights and water pressures. GREEN
- Hydraulic leaking issues were less prevalent in previous project iterations with the same cylinders, the fluid connections will have to be resealed. GREEN
- A spacer within the hydraulic system is necessary to prevent the piston from overextending and blocking the water inlet. GREEN
- The user control element is not considered in the current design. YELLOW
- Compare your current project plan/schedule to your original plan/schedule.
At the beginning of the semester our team started with more unknowns than in this project's previous transition from team to team. Being in the fourth iteration, we thought our roles would be to finalize the work that the previous years teams had accomplished. One thing no one could have predicted was a global pandemic causing a massive shutdown halting any final work last year's team could of completed. Campus being shut down made the transition process much more difficult and it took our team longer than expected to sort out what exactly we needed to do. We decided it would be best to approach the project as if it was in its first year. We wanted to see what we could conceptualize, rather than the improvements we could make to previous teams designs. After the first few reviews and being able to get familiar with the customer and engineering requirements it was decided that we would focus the design scope on adults aged 18-60**. When the device is finalized for the chosen scope, the team or future teams can then focus on changes geared towards children or geriatric users. The team shifted our focus in the middle of the semester to last years prototype. We decided to machine as much of their design as we could and begin testing. We have altered some of their CAD designs and changed materials as different needs arose. Overall our team has focused greatly on incorporating comfort and usability to all of our design choices, and using all of the resources available (SME's, Industrial Design student, guide/customer contacts) to engineer the best prototype we can.
The semester started in the midst of a global pandemic under very constrained circumstances. No one has ever really lived through anything like this before, so the first few weeks were a learning curve for everyone. It was sort of like building an IKEA wardrobe when you have the instructions for a desk. The team would plan things like "experience what its like to transfer from a wheelchair to a toilet" but due to social distancing and COVID restrictions, it was not able to happen. The engineering of last years prototype was halted due to missing materials. We discovered after about 8 weeks into the semester that the previous team had materials that were not in the team's locker. After extensive searching, we learned it was most likely not going to be found and the team then had to plan for the time/budget towards a new seat plate. After sourcing an aluminum plate, the team had to reschedule machining the seat plate because RIT's water jet was down. Unfortunately it wasn't able to be fixed before the end of the semester. Also towards the end of the semester, there began to be a significant rise in COVID-19 cases. This made continuing other machining and test plans difficult, so the team decided it was best to move what we could to next semester.
The team learned this semester how important it is to not only be resourceful, but flexible to change. We relied on friends, customer, and MSD guide to help us accomplish everything this semester and based off of feedback we have done a great job. It is something that we need to continue through the spring semester. We also need to continue to roll with the changes rather than let them halt our progress. Like with test plans, the biomedical engineering labs will not have the supplies needed to complete the biomaterials testing until next semester. We decided instead to present studies close to what we plan to do during our final review, with the hope to compare our material's results next semester. The team has meshed together very well and we hope to continue to work towards our goal of a working prototype next semester.
- Review individual team member status.
- Hannah- I was able to deliver on my personal responsibilities this semester. I was able to help out the team where needed, and tried to keep the team on track to making deadlines and progress towards completing the tasks we had to assigned for this semester. I think we did use our MSD I plan effectively to make sure we were meeting the big deadlines of each of phases. We did underestimate the time that it would take to complete some of the tasks. However, during the MSD II schedule planning, the team added more realistic time requirements for each of the tasks.
- Kaylie - I was able to deliver on my personal responsibilities as communications on the team. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and sourcing issues not everything I had hoped to have done this semester was completed. I tried to always volunteer for tasks, and was able to step outside of my BME comfort zone and help down in the Mech shop as well (thanks Gina and Jared!). I agree with Hannah that we underestimated what we would be able to get done, and that sometimes resulted in the team feeling as if we were not doing enough. Realistically looking back, the work we accomplished especially given the current world circumstances is an amazing feat. I think setting more realistic goals in the future will make work done over the next semester much more meaningful.
- Chad - I was able to deliver on my personal responsibilities as the "mechanical lead". Aside from providing my name, I was able to support preliminary hydraulic testing. Through MSD I we underestimated the number of deficiencies in the previous team's (untested) design, making building a functioning prototype more challenging than anticipated.
- Jared - I was able to deliver on my personal responsibilities as documentation and purchasing for our team. With Covid restrictions and less time, our group was able to make great progress toward MSD II. I was able to document all the parts currently in our locker from last year as well as ordering additional parts we need. I spent three of my Thursday Nights in the civil fabrication shop assisting Cam with the welding portion of our design. I think we did a good job at following our plan but ran into some time issues. After working through some design flaws at the end of this semester, we have a good understanding of how to move forward with our current prototype.
- Gina - I was able to deliver on my personal responsibilities as the design lead. I was able to analyze last year's CAD files, and make some adjustments based on our team's decisions. We were all very optimistic in relation to what we would be able to get done this semester. We seemingly managed to hit just about every roadblock we could along the way, but we still managed to make a lot of progress and figure out where we want to go with our plans for next semester. We seem to be well along the path towards a completed product at the end of next semester, I am uncharacteristically confident in our plans for the next semester.
- Compare your current risk assessment to your original.
At the end of the semester, we closed out some of risks. Most of the risks that are still active deal with covid-19 closure or can only be closed out after the testing is conducted during next semester. The risks that we were able to close out this semester deal with the understanding last years model or finding issues with last years prototype. These risks were closed out, since we now understand last years model and have already remedied some of the issues we have came across. We do have plans on how to fix issues in our final prototype if they do arise, although we are expecting the system to have little to no issues. None of these risks have manifest into problems, most we just had to brainstorm for a little bit and see if a new solution can work out. The risks assessment has changed throughout the semesters, since more potential risks have been identified as the semester went on. Furthermore, some of the risks were identified at the beginning of the semester, the severity or likelihood of the risky event occurring was decreased as we became more knowledgeable of the design and the project.
Link to updated risk document
Review your team's MSD II schedule
- Compete construction of seat plate (contingent on waterjet and lab accessibility)
- Perform tests planned for in Design Phase - go through results, make necessary adjustments
- Retest as necessary and adjust
- Build and demonstrate product
- Technical paper, Imagine RIT poster
- Imagine RIT setup and prep
- Keep track of deadlines and big due dates in Gantt chart throughout the semester
- Keep a running tracker of work done and notes throughout semester
MSD II: Project close-out
Status Review
Current state of the project
The finished device was able to meet most of the customer requirements and meet the design goals that the team set out to meet during MSD I. The team was able to produce a functional prototype that is able to lift and lower a user, and is stable. The device features arms rest that are free to rotate and overall the different aspects of the device function as it was designed too. The requirements that are unmet are the weight capacity requirements. The team was unable to get the hydraulics to go up and down in unison when in a parallel configuration, so the team switched to series. However, this reduced the lifting weight capacity to only 90 lbs. If more time was given, larger hydraulics could be used to fix this issue and increase the weight capacity of the device. The final device is robust and functions as designed. The team was also underbudget for the project, about $100 under. Our customer Art North, I believe was satisfied and happy with the final device we produced. He seemed to like the arm design and was happy with how the device lifted and lowered. The completed customer requirements and performance vs requirements table that was added to the engineering requirements can be found here.
The team managed to closely follow the semester plan for MSD II. The team was able to meet deadline for the technical paper, imagine RIT video, and draft poster, since we all started a head of time and were finished by the date the team established as the deadline. They were also all turned into MyCourses by the due date. The only scheduling changes that majorly effective the team was that the system level build and test design review was pushed back due to scheduling conflicts, however, this allowed the team to have more time to get aspects of the device completed and tested like the arms. Since the team has been ahead for most of this semester, compared to other MSD team, the team also created ample space in the schedule to complete task since, we had a big head start in the process. From the scheduling of MSD II, I learned that it is better to be productive at the start of your project (or in MSD I) since if you do the hard stuff in the beginning, you will have plenty of time to troubleshoot toward the end of the project. This eliminates stress, and you can be more satisfied at the end of your project, knowing that you did all you could, and do not regret that you did not have time to accomplish something.
Review individual team member status:
Hannah- I felt that I delivered on all my personal responsibilities. I was in charge of making sure the team meet all our official deadlines, planning when the customer design reviews are held, as well a what the team is going to work on every team meeting. I believed I helped the team stay on track and helped to get the team going and focused on the project. I believe I used the MSD II plan effectively. The schedule help me figure out the team goals for each phase, and what our focus/tasks should be for each meeting. I could then effectively assign other task to members, and make sure we are working effectively. I believe the plan was realistic, since I originally counted on some delays, so the team was able to get ahead, and when errors or problems came up, the team was not set back at all.
Gina - I would have to say that I delivered on my personal responsibilities over MSD. I kept the CAD updated and in line with the design changes. My plan was likely a bit too optimistic as while I did expect to run into more issues I did not anticipate all the problems that we ran into. I feel like as a team though, we were able to react quickly and adjust our design to account for things. While the final product wasn't exactly what we wanted I am still impressed and content with what we managed to get done, and feel like the project is in a good spot going forward.
- Did you deliver on your personal responsibilities?
- Did you use your MSD II plan effectively? Was it realistic? If not already addressed above, what did you learn from this and how can you apply it to future projects?
Current Risk Assessment and Problem Solving Status:
At the end of the semester, all the remaining risks were closed out for the team. Since the team has produced a working prototype by the end of the semester, the risks regarding not meeting deadlines or not creating a working prototype were closed out. The risks that we did not anticipated included those surrounding the hydraulics not working initially. This was because when we received the hydraulics, the other team had stated on their edge page that the hydraulics were operational, but we quickly found out it wasn't the case, and we have spent a good part of the year getting them to be functional again. A few of the risks became problems, like regarding the hydraulic mounts, the O-rings inside the hydraulics, and the hydraulic pistons. However, the team was able to implement a solution to all these problems, which were reflected in our problem solving document. The problem solving process, we used this semester was that we identified a problem, then as a team we began to brainstorm different solutions that we could try. The team then selected one to implement and then we retested the device or system to see if the change was effective. This method worked for the team, and the team was able to at least implement one solution for every problem that come up over the course of the year. The updated risk and problem tracking documents are found below.
Deliverables Checklist and Website Status
The customer handoff has been completed. All tools have been returned to the MSD office and the locker has been cleaned out since another continuation project is not believed to be happening at this time.
Lessons learned, etc.
The team learned that the best way to see if a designed solution worked was to to grab whatever materials were around to test it out. That was how our team came up with a lot of our solutions, which occurred when the team just to "send it". This just going for it method, allowed us to fix the bearing guide spacing issue as well as the hydraulics not going up in unison issue.
The advice I would give to future team, is to do not spend all your time planning out a perfect design, since it most likely will not work the first time so start building as soon as possible to maximize your troubleshooting time.