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Team Vision for Final Demo and Handoff
During this phase, the team looked to finished the rest of the testing of the device and try to make adjustments to the device, to allow for the device to operate more smoothly (both hydraulics operate simultaneously and at the same rate). The team also looked to make some aesthetic changes to the device which include spray painting the device with an anti-rust coating and creating foam cushion on the arms rests, to add more comfort features to the device. Additionally, since this is the last phase of MSD, the team began preparing for the final customer handoff and completed any documentation that is needed to understand the project, as well as any helpful information that we can provide if the project get picked up again for next year.
The team was able to the accomplish the goals laid out above. The team painted the device, and added a rubber spacer for the bearing, which fixed some of the issues regarding the seat tilting forward when weight was applied. The team also purchased caps to put over all the holes in the device to give it a more cleaner look. The team also worked on completing the technical paper, poster, and lightening talk video.
The team completed all the testing they could have with the equipment they had available, and the group was unable to recruit people to give feedback of the device aesthetically and comfort levels, due to time resistant's and COVID precautions. The team also closed out the remaining risks on the risk management document as well as finish updating the problem tracking document for our solutions. The team also worked towards finishing the remaining tasks on the teams semester schedule. Also the confluence overview pages and the remaining tabs on the site for our team where updated and/or completed.
Test Results Summary
The test plans the team was able to execute were completed last phase. The remaining test plans, we could not completed based on the time constraints that we would need to be able to recruit users to test the device and covid-19 safety protocols. The test plans were updated to reflect the testing completed, and the summary of the test results were added to the engineering requirements. This performance vs requirements table is linked below. The device was able perform at some of the standards that were outlined in the requirements. However, due to the hydraulics being too small, the device in unable to operate lifting for capacities above 200 lbs.
Performance vs Requirement Table
After the conclusion of this testing and the written portion of this phase, the team decided to implemented one final idea on how to fix the hydraulics, the idea was to run the hydraulics in series instead of in parallel. This new routing of the hoses proved to be successful, in having the hydraulics operate in unison, due to conservation of mass. However, the lifting feature only has half the lifting power that it had running in parallel. This bring the lifting capacity down to about 90lbs, which is still much less than the engineering requirement. This does though show proof of the concept. If the next team is able to increase the size of the hydraulics it made be possible to continue operating the device with these changes. The images showing the change in the routing pattern is shown below.
Figure 1. The old hydraulics system when in parallel, vs the new design with the hydraulics in series
Risk and Problem Tracking
Since this is the final phase of MSD, we must finish all the work we would like to complete by the last day of classes this semester. Since this is the case, the final work must be completed by this date, the team was able to close out the reaming risks for the semester, as well finish filling out our problem tracking document with the solutions we have implemented over the course of the project.
The updated risk document can be found here.
The updated problem tracking document can be found here.
Final Project Documentation
The team technical paper for the project was written over the course of MSD and can be found here.
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The Imagine RIT poster for the device is found at the link here.
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The final updated lightening talk video for the project can be found here.
The Work Breakdown Table from the team's homepage with working updated links can be found here.
Project Management | Design Tools | Design Documentation | Implementation | Validation | Presentation & Dissemination |
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Communication & Minutes | Electrical Schematics Facility Layout Manuals | Mockups Test Fixtures Prototyping | Simulations |
Functional Demo Materials
The functional Demo took place in person and questions were answered orally, the pre-read for review can be found below.
Plans for Wrap-up
At this point at the end of the semester, the team has finished wrapping up the adjustments that we planned on making. The now current state of the device, is a functional prototype, the device is able to support users up to at least 200 lbs., which has been a significant improvement over previous design teams. The issues that are still occurring with the device is that the the hydraulic still are not operating at the same time as one another, which causes the lifting feature to not be as smooth as the team desires. Additionally, same changes and improvements were made to the device to give the device a better visual appearance, these include, painting the device, added form to simulate what kind of cushion the team would like to see on the arms, as well adding caps to device to give a better visual appearance.
The team has made a lot of progress this year towards, getting last years design up and running. While many problems and issues arose through the course of the semester the team persisted in order to come up with a successful product in the end. However, time constraint limited the team in making certain changes, that we would like to see be implemented into the device in the future. Some of these include creating larger, hydraulics, which are able to lift more weight, add some type of torso support, as well as improving the visual appearance of the device by putting a cover over the device's hydraulics to clean up the work of the project. The team is passionate for the project and we would really like to see this project continue and make this following changes to try to get this device to the market. This is an important project that can possible help improve the lives of some wheelchair users, so we would like see this device or a similar product be brought into public restrooms and homes around the country.
Individual Three Week Plans