02_First Independent Group Meeting (event date: 30/8/15)
My group had its first official meeting outside of class on Sunday evening at 6:30 on August 30. We each brainstormed potential project ideas as well as offered ideas we had thought of over the summer.
Patrick Miller proposed a needle/medical utensile sterilizer device (autoclave) that could operate independently of electrical supply or fuel. It was proposed that it would boil water by using a combination of solar heat and human heat generation via an electromechanical motion-to-electricity-to-heat hand crank
Devin Benson proposed a diabetes insulin injection assisting device that would aid patients in determining how much insulin was needed for their dose and perhaps as well aid in administering the insulin into a patient’s system. He also came up with an idea of a sit-to-stand assistive device that would relieve patients of the effort or complication of rising from a sitting position.
Christopher Palmore proposed a project to improve the prosthetic-hand device that the Harding BME’s had previously designed.
I proposed a remote controlled cart that could be used to assist handicapped or frail people in transporting objects around their house. The cart could potentially carry 100-150 lb and could supposedly reduce a person’s need for human help in daily chores/actiities.
After we each discussed our tentative thoughts that were produced over the summer we brainstormed other potential project topics including ideas that were proposed by fellow Harding professors Dr. Lance Gibson and Taylor Williams.
Dr. Gibson had told the group that an improved weight-reducing recovery treadmill would be a good idea. He mentioned that the one he used during his health recovery lacked in comfort during usage.
While going over some of these ideas, we came across a product we found on the internet known as “muscle fiber”. Muscle fiber has the ability to contract when current or heat is applied to it. This sparked out interest in project ideas such as the sit-to-stand device where a contracting cord could potentially be used. For the rest of the meeting (ended around 9:30 pm) we talked about basic mechanics of the human body in sit-to-stand motion and how contracting muscle fiber or similar devices could be used in such a product.