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Call for Project
Ideas, Users / Coaches, and Support
Project Ideas
I am contacting you to solicit student
project ideas for an assistive technology course at Stanford University this
coming academic year.
The sixth season of Perspectives in
Assistive Technology (ENGR110/210) will be offered in the Winter Quarter,
starting in January. This class explores the engineering, medical, technical,
and psychosocial challenges of implementing technology solutions for people
with disabilities through lectures by experts in the fields of assistive
technology and rehabilitation. In addition, teams of students work with project
partners, coaches, and individuals with disability (or family members or health
care professionals) to identify assistive technology needs, brainstorm ideas,
formulate design solutions, fabricate devices, test them with users, and report
their efforts.
In the past several years, many projects
involving assistive technology have been undertaken. Previous years' projects
were:
-
| 2011 |
No-Fall Cane
Project |
|
Exercise
Machine |
|
ROTA Hybrid Drive
Project |
|
RAFT
Project |
|
|
| 2010 |
Recharging Vest for
Users of Implanted Deep Brain Stimulators |
|
Standing and Walking
Aid for Improved Balance and Stability |
|
|
| 2009 |
iPhone Dialer for
Individuals with Visual Impairments |
|
Handi-Cart for
Wheelchair Shoppers |
|
Sonification of
Movement for Individuals with Movement Restricting Disabilities |
|
Opening Doors for
Wheelchair Users |
|
|
| 2008 |
Device to Press
Elevator Buttons for Wheelchair Users |
|
Liquid Metal Cane
for Individuals who are Blind |
|
Mobility Motivation
Device for Children with Cerebral Palsy |
|
|
| 2007 |
Accessible Fishing
Pole |
|
Aid for Donning an
Artificial Leg |
|
Device to Facilitate
Moving Elderly People around Their Home |
|
Rain Protector for
Wheelchair Users |
|
|
| 2006 |
Affordable Electric
Page Turner for Individuals with ALS |
|
Standing Aid for
Children with Cerebral Palsy |
|
Wheelchair
Lift |
The best projects typically win national
design awards, even when competing againt year-long design courses at other
schools.
Project Ideas: At this time, I would
like to solicit your project ideas / suggestions. The broad requirements for
projects are:
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Deliverable: Projects must involve
designing and fabricating a device (or software) to help individuals with
disability.
-
Creativity: Student teams are
required to fully understand the problem and need, brainstorm design concepts,
and fabricate, test, and report on their creative solution. Their design should
not be a copy of an existing commercial product.
-
Feasibility: The project's aim and
specifications should be realistic. Project solutions that can only be achieved
by violating the laws of physics or that presume the existence of an
anti-gravity machine are examples of infeasible project ideas.
-
Overlap: Projects should focus on
actual needs or problems that are inadequately addressed by commercial products
and could include diagnostic and rehab therapy equipment as well as personal
devices. Projects that assist family members or health care professionals in
caring for individuals with disabilities are also welcomed.
-
Scale: Projects must be of
appropriate scale and complexity to be completed (design, fabrication, and
testing of a prototype) in one quarter (8 weeks).
-
Expertise: Projects must be
compatible with the skill level and expertise of students in ENGR110/210. They
typically have mechanical engineering backgrounds, although some may have
electrical engineering, computer hardware, and software
experience.
-
Cost: The estimated cost of any
parts or fabrication must be modest, no more than a few hundred
dollars.
-
Participation: A person with a
disability, a family member of a person with a disability, or a health care
professional should be available to work with the student project team to
further identify the need, offer advice during the quarter, and test the
prototypes.
-
Risk: The project must not pose a
risk of harm to the user or student team. The device must be minimally
invasive.
Please send me project ideas you have so they
can be compiled into a list and offered to students in the first class session
(Tuesday, January 4th). To best convey your project ideas, I suggest that you
formulate them into these short paragraphs:
-
Background: give an overview of
your organization or general description of the population addressed by your
project idea
-
Problem: briefly describe the
problem or unmet need for the device you have in mind
-
Aim: describe what the device
should do
-
Specifications: list the
operational features and characteristics of the proposed device
-
Other: provide any additional
information, including weblinks and design suggestions
There will be an opportunity for you to
present your project suggestions to students in the second class session
(Thursday, January 6th). The students will then consider all the offerings and
choose projects that most interest them.
This is an excellent opportunity to have
bright students work on projects that address long-standing problems
experienced by people with disabilities.
Users and Coaches
Your assistance is also sought for the names
of local individuals who would benefit from the finished product as well as
experts who would be able to coach the students on their projects. The experts
would be expected to provide advice and expertise in the specific areas
addressed by the project (mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer systems;
knowledge of fabrication and testing techniques; and sources of materials); and
be available by phone and/or email.
Project Support
Finally support for these projects is needed.
A monetary gift of $5000 per project supports approved project expenses,
honorariums for speakers, and administrative costs. Contributions of lesser
amounts will also be considered.
Please contact me if you have any questions
about the course and thank you for your project suggestions.
- David L. Jaffe, MS
- dljaffe -at- stanford.edu
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