Our group has divided into smaller groups so that people can work on becoming experts in a certain field. For example, two of us have been working really hard on becoming experts at sewing, while other's have been working with the Autodesk Inventor program to create a model of our backpack. Also all of our materials have been arriving with the exception of what we ordered today which was samples of canvas and zippers. Overall our group is moving...
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
As work continues on our prototype armrest, more behind the scenes work has been completed. We have ordered materials that will be used for the cushioning like memory foam, fabric, and elastics. Half of the group has been focusing upon the actual arm rest while the other half has been sewing and playing around with ideas for the cushioning. In the next few days, we will be meeting with someone who is going to help us mold plastic,...
We have began learning and implementing code from the PHP language. This will be useful and make it easier in web layout and design. PHP will also be used in coding the search function for the site. We have also started to write scripts and film videos for the website. In the next few days we will have videos up on the website and we will have learned the necessary PHP code. We are looking to have a functional website with good videos up in a month...
Monday, October 29, 2012
Pivorest is starting to conclude the larger portions of research, and is now moving onto some building. We have found the clamp we think we will use, and are getting a few to try out. Also, we placed an order for some of the materials we will need for the build, like the memory foam, to cushion the armrest. Finally, we have been working on a rough wooden prototype of the device, and sent several members of our group to start learning about injection...
Our group is using justhost.com to host our website and we are uploading our prototypes to see how they will look all put together. We are going to have several layouts uploaded before next class. We are also recording a couple videos this week just to test drive everything. A couple members of our group have been working on the script and general layout of our videos. These will all be tested in these first couple videos.&nb...
Today. we continued work on our project in its different aspects. Brian, Alex and Seth
continued on creating the Autodesk drawings and renderings of what the backpack
should turn out to be. We felt that the best way to present and form what we
wanted to build was in an Autodesk sheet metal design. Other members of the group went off to sew in the Family and Consumer Science
teacher’s room. There they started the different kinds of...
Friday, October 26, 2012
Today in class we got accomplished many things. We have a website made with 4 web pages and a design applied. We bought our domain name at Computer2torials.com so that we can start testing our website online and see how it behaves when it is on different computers as well as different browsers for compatibility. The survey is continually being refined so that we can get the best results as possible when we give out the survey. We want...
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Today, our group started prototyping! We began making a wooden model of what the armrest should look like and how it will function. In addition to this, we decided on the materials for our cover and bought a yard of fabric to practice on. Our team now has access to two differently sized wheelchairs to test our product on. This will help us make our armrest more universal. Before next class, we will be meeting with a consultant on how to work with...
Today in
class we dissected a backpack and took it apart seam by seam. We did this to get a
template of what we needed to base our backpack off of. We broke each piece
down to determine what fabric it was made out of and what stitching was used.
Straight stitching was used to sew the multiple layers together. We saw the
different aspects of the backpack such as the zippers and the pockets. As well as this, Autodesk Inventor drawings...
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
After the creation of various sketches and ideas, the PivoRest group will begin prototyping their armrest design next class. This is one big step to a finalized product. While some members prototype, others will continue researching for the best materials possible for the design. The group has scheduled an upcoming appointment to learn how to mold and work with plastic, as well as a few appointments to learn how...
Today in class, First Wave got some helpful incite from the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher. After running into her during a fire drill, we invited her back to the class to show her the fabric we had bought a few classes prior. While visiting our class, Mrs. Battesh gave us many good ideas about how to make the back pack, what fabric we still need to buy, what kinds of zippers we should be looking at, and what kind of thread is appropriate...
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
We have started to work on the format of the video tutorials we’ll be making. We are discussing the significance of a consistent intro and outro for every video and establishing standards for each video to follow. By researching how the best video tutorials are created, we are learning how to make ours as professional as possible. In addition to working on the format of our videos, we have moved a step closer to finalizing our survey and are considering...
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Today in class each team presented an idea for fundraising in order to accumulate more money for our projects. For the PivoRest group, we researched a way to have a school-wide capture the flag tournament. We decided it would be an event that students wound enjoy, and would be relatively easy to set up. As far as one that specifically pertains to our project, the rehabilitation center that we have visited a few times said that we can do a bake...
We were given the task in groups to each come up with a fundraiser idea for the class. We need fundraising to be able to pay for the design and creation of our ideas. After we presented our ideas, Connor, being the treasurer, is going to be in charge of choosing an idea and organizing most of it. We then got back into our group and talked about what we needed to do. The online survey is a priority so that we can start making videos about what problems...
On Thursday we started kicking around more fundraiser ideas to try to narrow them down so we could present. Our two main ideas became a 5k run and a Kan Jam competition We're also going to start selling the things we make when we practice sewing so we ordered a few different bag kits to try to get the hang of it. The idea of making scarves was also considered and we are currently looking into finding good fabrics and patterns for...
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Over the past two days, the PivoRest group members have continued working on elevator pitches. We have been gathering some facts and statistics that make the pitch more interesting and catchy. After developing the pitch thoroughly, we stood in front of our other classmates and practiced pitching it. Constructive criticism is always helpful. A few group members also joined the First Wave Pack after school and learned to sew...
Our previous class was spent purchasing some of the fabric that we wanted, and it has finally arrived. We bought about two yards each of blue, black and white fabric. The fabric was quite high quality and we were all pleased. Another thing that our group has been working on was learning how to sew. Today after school our group went to one of the family and consumer sciences teachers and she helped us with sewing. Our group learned how to thread...
After learning the art of the elevator pitch and developing a general approach, our group split up to work on the details of our pitches individually. Using statistical data and a persuasive argument, two of our members presented theirs in class. Some great points were made about citing statistics, giving specific facts, showing enthusiasm, and being as clear and concise as possible. We recorded the valuable constructive criticism of our peers...
Monday, October 15, 2012
These last few classes we have ordered a sample variety pack of fabrics that we can experiment with. We have also started to attend some open sewing labs to learn to sew. Brian went to a local sewing shop to check out what we can order from them. We were pointed towards the Juki Tl-98E, a mix between a standard machine and an industrial sewing machine in the fact that it is a little bit more heavy duty and it comes with more attachments. The...
Today in class, our project manager taught us about "elevator pitches." An elevator pitch is a pitch about something that can be explained in about a minute or two, the amount of time someone might spend in an elevator with another person. These pitches are very useful to get information out quickly and efficiently. In that minute, someone can pitch a problem, a solution to the problem, and how the might go about completing the solution....
The survey that our group has been designing has gone through many stages but it has now been finalized. However, we are still stuck with how we are going to distribute these surveys. Our group was thinking that we could use an email and link people to our online survey and gather the results that way. This would be the preferred method as it would be the easiest to gather the data necessary to move on with our project. We have purchased the...
This past Friday, three members of our team went to the Wesley Health Care Center again with a list of questions. The occupational therapists answered a variety of questions about range of motion, elevation, comfort, and current problems. We found that all patients complain of pain in their arm due to the unnatural position of the standard armrest. In addition to the visit, our team worked to improve the sketches we presented last class....
Sunday, October 14, 2012
On Wednesday
after school our group got together to meet with the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Mrs. Battesh. There she began to teach us the fundamentals of
sewing. Of
course with no one in the group
knowing how to sew it was more of a trial and error teaching session. Towards
the end we all knew how to operate the sewing machine correctly. Then during
class the next day we began to...
Friday, October 12, 2012
Today in class, Pivorest worked on several aspects of our project. A couple of group members started working with Autodesk Inventor CAD software, drawing up ideas for the armrest. The ideas drawn are the ones thought to be the best at this point. Also, in preparation for the next trip to the Wesley nursing home, we compiled questions for wheelchair patients. The questions are going to be asked at the nursing home to get a better idea of what...
We came up with three prototypes for our problem, which is that people have problems with their computer and do not know how to fix it or find a solution. The first was to have online classes that teach people about different applications on the computer. Online classes would not provide a quick solution to the problem that the user is having but would allow people to fix more problems by themselves. The second was to make a website to act as...
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Last class the roller ski back pack decided on a group name; First Wave Pack. We chose this name because in big ski races the field is usual split up into different waves, letting only the best and most elite start in the first wave. Also last class, the group did some prototyping and presented to the class. After hearing some good constructive criticism by our classmates the group got together and decided on some new designs to test out. By...
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
This weekend, as a group we met at the library to continue working. We contacted several companies asking about educational discounts and we have our research narrowed down to two softwares and one microphone. The price for Adobe Captivate 6 is in total $598, while the price for TechSmith's Captivate 6 is in total $254. The Microphone we will be using is the BlueMic Yeti. We do not meet the criteria required for educational discounts for this...
Today in class, our group presented the sketches we came up with for possible designs for the PivoRest. There are three different versions, each with specifications that make them unique. The first includes an arm that has two parts which are connected by a joint so that both can pivot and give the user a relatively large range of motion. It has bumpers on the sides of the attachment so that the arm will not fall...
Monday, October 8, 2012
The members of Pivorest have been hard at work over the long weekend. Group members have been researching competitive technologies and trying to see how we can improve upon them. Other group members have been researching and weighing out the pros and cons of different materials. All members have been drawing up a variety of sketches to come up with different ideas. We have recently contacted Sunnyview Hospital...
We applied the brainstorm activity from the previous class to our own project. After meeting together as a group with a list of our own individual lists of ideas, we compiled and expanded the list. In our list, we thought of different ideas on how to get feedback and collect research in order to know what topics our videos should cover. One of the ideas we considered was to write an online survey using SurveyMonkey, for which a test survey...
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Our group has been working to finalize a few details
such as what equipment will be required and how exactly to approach the problem
of helping the less technologically savvy. The brainstorming activity done in
class has stirred some thoughts around and we are rethinking our strategy for
how to convey our information. We are still finalizing some details about what
software to get, what microphone, and the official name of our website. We are
also...
Yesterday in class we did an exercise trying to brainstorm the many uses of a paper clip. First we brainstormed on our own, then in groups, and finally as the whole class. Each time the sample size grew, the possibilities increased. In order to come up with any solution to a problem, brainstorming is an extremely important step. It helps to expand ideas to resolve the problem at hand. With this being said, a homework...
Currently our group is trying to come up with crazy and "outside the box" ideas for our design. The logic behind this is that if one of the ideas doesn't sound good by itself it might lead another person in the group to another idea that never would have been thought of. It is also forcing our group to get away from one set idea. As a whole the original idea for our backpack was thought up fairly quickly and everyone pictured it the same way. Some...
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