Transcript AAAPROJECT1
ATDF Project
(A resolution to Bedsores)
Team Members
Anthony Spencer
Senior at BMHS
Antonia Gruning
Senior at TMHS
Ali Welch
Junior at CHS
http://www.cs.uml.edu/teams-academy/index.php/Student/ClamHome
Requirements/Constraints
Safety (Must have NO sharp edges)
Construction time (3 months)
Battery that can be rechargeable and long lasting (approx
12 hours).
Cost (only have $150)
Durability and Efficiency.
Clean-looking and presentable
Must be easy to control
Size
Weight
Must keep the spine strait at all times
Client
Our client’s name is Mrs. Gibbs.
Mrs. Gibbs awhile back went into a surgery to get her
stomach stapled. When she came out, she was
paralyzed from the waist down.
The main problem Mrs. Gibbs faces and has faced is
bedsores.
Statement of Need: Our client needs her wheelchair to
prevent bedsores instead of causing them.
On the Market
The closest product to preventing pressure sores
caused by wheelchairs are the type of products made
for massage chairs. None specifically for curing
pressure sores.
None have been made readily for the wheelchair, and it
is hard to find one that can fit.
Many do not have batteries, thus eliminating the
movement done by a wheelchair.
Another product that could be used,
is a gel pad seat made for wheelchairs.
The Magnetic Ball Plan
The idea behind this design is to increase blood circulation in
our client's butt as she is sitting in her wheelchair.
There would be metal balls under the gel pad, with
electromagnetic walls on either side.
We are going to shift the North and South poles, causing the
metal balls to move back and forth underneath the gel pad.
This will then stimulate blood circulation, and stop the blood
veins from being blocked up.
Magnetic Ball Plan (cont.)
Popcorn Machine
Another method was based off the idea of a
popcorn machine.
The purpose of this method, was to alleviate
different pressure points, in a random order.
The randomness would eliminate the problem
of consistent pressure.
Popcorn Machine (cont.)
Two magnetic fields
would be used, one on
top and one on the
bottom of the device.
Metal balls would be
pulled to opposing fields
at random. Thus,
creating a popcorn like
effect.
Gel Pad
This design would essentially
be a massage pad for a chair
covered by a gel pad layer to
relieve pressure.
It would be attached to the
seat and back of the chair with
straps that clasp under the
seat and behind the back of
the chair.
The battery would need to
hang off of one of the sides of
the seat or to be somehow
attached to the bottom of the
chair.
Pros and Cons
PROS
Gel Pad creates comfort,
and spine secure
placement
Popcorn machine
creates random pressure
relief
Magnetic balls increase
blood flow and
circulation
CONS
Gel Pad’s thickness, as
well as already on the
market
Popcorn machine
requires a high voltage
Magnetic Balls is
extremely costly as well
as a high power
necessity for magnetic
field to function
Final Design
An electro-mechanical actuator is the least
expensive linear actuator that can be controlled
be electronics.
We will redesign a premade massage pad for a
chair to use less drastic motion in order to shift
the spine best.
Parts List
- 12 Volt Battery
- Gel Pad (bike)
- Massage Seat
- Resistors
- Transformers
- Relays
- Touch Sensors
- Remote
- Wheelchair!
3D Design
Coming Soon!