P4: Client Design

Project Overview:

In this project, our team was tasked with designing a product to be used by a client with a disability. The attributes of our project were determined by obtaining a list of issues the client faces in their daily life. One of the most prominent issues the client faced was reaching and grabbing objects at a distance. While the client had used a gripper tool previously, they stated that it was difficult to hold and carry as it was long and took up a lot of space. Based on this information, our team decided to create an arm attachable gripper that could extend and retract to meet the clients requests.

Objectives:

1) Extendable

To address the clients need of having a gripper that didn't take up too much space and wasn't difficult to hold, our team proposed an extendable and retractable gripper utilizing a telescoping mechanism.

2) Customizable/Swappable

In order to create a versatile gripper, our team proposed a swapping mechanism where different grips could be attached to the end of the gripper

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3) Fashionable

To please the client and to make the gripper look aesthetic and interesting, our team decided to add an aspect of fashion to the design to fit the clients personality

To achieve these objectives, our team created initial prototypes in Autodesk Inventor before creating a refined prototype that aimed to replicate many of the proposed design features

Autodesk Inventor Model

Refined prototype

Skills:

Use of Autodesk Inventor to CAD and create virtual prototypes to convey proposed design solution

Reflection:

Design project four was arguably the most rewarding when it came to understanding the engineering design process as it applies to real world clients. Throughout the design process, we constantly had to refer to our client and ensure her needs were being met and that our product fulfilled a clear purpose in regards to that. This project taught me a great deal about working with a team. In the previous design projects, each team member was usually assigned one segment of the project which did not overlap a great deal with other group members. This design project was much different in the fact that all aspects of the project were interconnected resulting in much discussion between the team. Initially our team was confused on what a practical design solution would be. This challenge taught me the importance of brainstorming, communicating ideas, and taking into consideration everyone's point of view. While designing the refined prototype our team ran into a major issue with the telescoping arm that took many hours to rectify. This issue tested our endurance and patience with each other which I believe to be a vital factor when working in a team. Overall I feel this design project was an excellent introduction into designing for a client and working with a team.

Final Deliverable + Milestones