Weekly Reports.
Date: September 2nd, 2013 to September 9th, 2013
Current status of project: We just chose our project for the semester.
Work planned for next week: We will be speaking with Dr. Carter to further discuss the scope of the project and the initial work that needs to be done.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No
Current status of project: We just chose our project for the semester.
Work planned for next week: We will be speaking with Dr. Carter to further discuss the scope of the project and the initial work that needs to be done.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No
Date: September 9th, 2013 to September 16th, 2013
Current status of project: We defined and turned in our project scope at the beginning of the past week. On Friday, September 13th, we met with Dr. Carter at Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis. During our meeting we spoke with and observed stroke patients in different therapeutic environments; we also had the opportunity to speak with a physical therapist about what they would like to have in the type of system we are designing. This helped us begin brainstorming specifications and design features to be addressed.
Work planned for next week: We will continue outlining specifications and metrics for our system. We will begin researching therapy protocols for stroke patients, existing hand/dexterity exercise and devices, and literature on the role of sensory feedback in rehabilitation and therapeutic environments.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work:
Questions for Dr. Carter
1. What magnitudes of finger flexion would correspond to signal and noise?
Questions for Instructor/TA:
2. Do we have access to a dynamometer to get an idea of finger pressure and pinch strength for future acquisition of pressure sensors?
Current status of project: We defined and turned in our project scope at the beginning of the past week. On Friday, September 13th, we met with Dr. Carter at Rehabilitation Institute of St. Louis. During our meeting we spoke with and observed stroke patients in different therapeutic environments; we also had the opportunity to speak with a physical therapist about what they would like to have in the type of system we are designing. This helped us begin brainstorming specifications and design features to be addressed.
Work planned for next week: We will continue outlining specifications and metrics for our system. We will begin researching therapy protocols for stroke patients, existing hand/dexterity exercise and devices, and literature on the role of sensory feedback in rehabilitation and therapeutic environments.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work:
Questions for Dr. Carter
1. What magnitudes of finger flexion would correspond to signal and noise?
Questions for Instructor/TA:
2. Do we have access to a dynamometer to get an idea of finger pressure and pinch strength for future acquisition of pressure sensors?
Date: September 16, 2013 to September 23, 2013
Current status of project: We met at the beginning of the past week as a group to generally define our specifications and assign duties to group members for literature and patent searches, as well as research into existing therapies. Preliminary research has begun, and specifications are currently being identified.
Work planned for next week: We will identify our specifications as solid parameters based on the problem addressed and the existing solutions that we investigate. We will write our preliminary written report and prepare our preliminary presentation according to the requirements outlined in the respective rubrics.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work
Questions for Instructor/TA:
1. We have identified some preliminary designs, but they vary between software solutions (optical sensors, etc.) and mechanical systems (gloves with sensors). Since a solution such as a glove would have different specifications than an optical sensor in terms of material strength, human interface, and other "tangible" properties, should we include specs for both domains of solutions or should we just omit this at this stage of the project?
2. Could you give us an example of what you are looking for in terms of the analysis requirement of the written report? What kind of mathematical calculations are you looking for?
Current status of project: We met at the beginning of the past week as a group to generally define our specifications and assign duties to group members for literature and patent searches, as well as research into existing therapies. Preliminary research has begun, and specifications are currently being identified.
Work planned for next week: We will identify our specifications as solid parameters based on the problem addressed and the existing solutions that we investigate. We will write our preliminary written report and prepare our preliminary presentation according to the requirements outlined in the respective rubrics.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work
Questions for Instructor/TA:
1. We have identified some preliminary designs, but they vary between software solutions (optical sensors, etc.) and mechanical systems (gloves with sensors). Since a solution such as a glove would have different specifications than an optical sensor in terms of material strength, human interface, and other "tangible" properties, should we include specs for both domains of solutions or should we just omit this at this stage of the project?
2. Could you give us an example of what you are looking for in terms of the analysis requirement of the written report? What kind of mathematical calculations are you looking for?
Date: September 24th to September 30th
Current status of project: We met throughout the week to further discuss define design specifications. Individually, research was done on our designated topics (literature search, patent search, and current therapies search). We pooled this information and started the organization and rough draft of our preliminary written report. Our oral report was completed.
Work planned for next week: We will have our written report completed and submitted before class on Wednesday, October 2nd. We will have our website made and content uploaded by Monday, October 7th. The DesignSafe report will be completed over this next week. We will also meet to brainstorm design options.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No
Current status of project: We met throughout the week to further discuss define design specifications. Individually, research was done on our designated topics (literature search, patent search, and current therapies search). We pooled this information and started the organization and rough draft of our preliminary written report. Our oral report was completed.
Work planned for next week: We will have our written report completed and submitted before class on Wednesday, October 2nd. We will have our website made and content uploaded by Monday, October 7th. The DesignSafe report will be completed over this next week. We will also meet to brainstorm design options.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No
Date: October 1st, 2013 to October 7th, 2013
Current status of project: Our preliminary oral and written reports were completed and turned in last week. We met as a group to begin design generation. Our website was also completed over the weekend, and it can be found here:
strokefeedback.weebly.com
Work planned for next week: We will meet again this week to further explore design options, and then each member will choose a few designs to research independently. We also plan to setup a meeting with Dr. Carter to present and discuss our current ideas.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work:
Current status of project: Our preliminary oral and written reports were completed and turned in last week. We met as a group to begin design generation. Our website was also completed over the weekend, and it can be found here:
strokefeedback.weebly.com
Work planned for next week: We will meet again this week to further explore design options, and then each member will choose a few designs to research independently. We also plan to setup a meeting with Dr. Carter to present and discuss our current ideas.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work:
Date: October 8th, 2013 to October 14th, 2013
Current status of project: We further explored different design options. We also discussed how to approach independent research of the various design options so that each design option can be more easily compared.
Work planned for next week: Each group member will take 3-4 design options and research them independently. We will then meet later in the week to go over what we found individually and begin to rank the options based on the ability to meet our design specifications.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No
Current status of project: We further explored different design options. We also discussed how to approach independent research of the various design options so that each design option can be more easily compared.
Work planned for next week: Each group member will take 3-4 design options and research them independently. We will then meet later in the week to go over what we found individually and begin to rank the options based on the ability to meet our design specifications.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No
Date: October 15th, 2013 to October 21st, 2013
Current status of project: Initial research and analysis of design options was started. We ran into problems trying to analyze the electromechanical systems using our current approach. After speaking with Dr. Klaesner, we reevaluated our approach to this type of system and decided to focus more on individual components instead of individual whole designs.
Work planned for next week: The electromechanical systems will be evaluated based on the new approach. Once we have analyzed and evaluated all design options, our design will be chosen. We will meet with Dr. Carter sometime this week to discuss our evaluation and design choice. Our progress report and second oral report will also be completed this week.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Current status of project: Initial research and analysis of design options was started. We ran into problems trying to analyze the electromechanical systems using our current approach. After speaking with Dr. Klaesner, we reevaluated our approach to this type of system and decided to focus more on individual components instead of individual whole designs.
Work planned for next week: The electromechanical systems will be evaluated based on the new approach. Once we have analyzed and evaluated all design options, our design will be chosen. We will meet with Dr. Carter sometime this week to discuss our evaluation and design choice. Our progress report and second oral report will also be completed this week.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Date: October 22th, 2013 to October 28th, 2013
Current status of project: Over this last week, we finished the analysis and comparison of all of our design alternatives. Our final design was chosen; we will be pursuing an electromechanical “glove” design that will be able to detect finger flexion and pinching motions. Visual, auditory, and/or tactile feedback will be provided for these movements; the feedback will be instantaneous and distinguishable for the different types of movements. The components of the system will be interfaced in a discrete glove design. We met with Dr. Carter to discuss the final design. All content for the progress report was gathered.
Work planned for next week: Our progress will be finalized and turned in by Wednesday, 10/30. Our progress report will also be presented on 10/30. We will also start looking into specific models of all components of our design.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Current status of project: Over this last week, we finished the analysis and comparison of all of our design alternatives. Our final design was chosen; we will be pursuing an electromechanical “glove” design that will be able to detect finger flexion and pinching motions. Visual, auditory, and/or tactile feedback will be provided for these movements; the feedback will be instantaneous and distinguishable for the different types of movements. The components of the system will be interfaced in a discrete glove design. We met with Dr. Carter to discuss the final design. All content for the progress report was gathered.
Work planned for next week: Our progress will be finalized and turned in by Wednesday, 10/30. Our progress report will also be presented on 10/30. We will also start looking into specific models of all components of our design.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Date: October 29th, 2013 to November 4th, 2013
Current status of project: Our progress report was completed last week. We have begun to compile a list of materials needed to construct our prototype.
Work planned for next week: Our list of materials will be finalized this week, and we will begin researching specific models of each part.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Current status of project: Our progress report was completed last week. We have begun to compile a list of materials needed to construct our prototype.
Work planned for next week: Our list of materials will be finalized this week, and we will begin researching specific models of each part.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Date: November 5th, 2013 to November 11th, 2013
Current status of project: We have begun the prototype development phase. We began researching different types of materials that would be used in the glove interface, and we created a bill of materials. An Arduino microcontroller was also purchased, and Brandon has been getting aquainted with the system.
Work planned for next week: All materials will be purchased or ordered by the end of the week. All sensors and feedback mechanisms will be tested with the Arduino microcontroller. We will also begin to develop the glove.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Current status of project: We have begun the prototype development phase. We began researching different types of materials that would be used in the glove interface, and we created a bill of materials. An Arduino microcontroller was also purchased, and Brandon has been getting aquainted with the system.
Work planned for next week: All materials will be purchased or ordered by the end of the week. All sensors and feedback mechanisms will be tested with the Arduino microcontroller. We will also begin to develop the glove.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Date: November 12th, 2013 to November 18th, 2013
Current status of project: All materials required to build the prototype were purchased and tested using the Arduino. We are still researching materials that will house the components in the discrete glove interface.
Work planned for next week: Prototype construction will be finished this week. We will also determine the material that will hold he components together and how the discrete glove interface will be constructed.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.
Current status of project: All materials required to build the prototype were purchased and tested using the Arduino. We are still researching materials that will house the components in the discrete glove interface.
Work planned for next week: Prototype construction will be finished this week. We will also determine the material that will hold he components together and how the discrete glove interface will be constructed.
Anything needed from client or TA or instructor to continue work: No.