Arnav Das (arnavmd2) ECE 120
Debopam Sanyal (dsanyal2) ECE 110
Andrew Gacek (andrewg3) ECE 120
Introduction
Statement of Purpose
/* Please provide a brief description of your project. List the goals and objectives of your project and explain why this project is useful for the problem your group want to solve or functions that make your project unique. */
We will attempt to create an elbow brace that can take various measurements, such as heart rate and degrees of freedom, and send this data to a phone. These measurements will be shown to the user via a phone app. We would like to address the idea of wearable tech and give people a larger understanding of the capabilities and restrictions of their bodies.
Background Research
/* Please provide details on the background research your group has done for your project. Explain what drives you to work on this project and/or why this project is important. Also include discussions on any similar projects your group have looked at in coming up with your project. How is your proposed project different or similar to those your group have looked at. */
Our group has researched what types of problems stem from joint pain, and what types of measurements are relevant towards solving them. Furthermore, we researched different types of sensors that could be applied to take such measurements. We have gone over a large volume of braces with diverse applications, with knee, hip, shoulder, elbow and spine braces being the most predominant in the global market. The brace can come in handy in a lot of cases. Our research has shown us how a brace can be used to heal fractures, detect pain, relieve pain, measure fitness metrics, etc.
Design Details
Block Diagram / Flow Chart
/* Provide a simple block diagram of your hardware design. A block diagram is a schematic graphic that shows the interactions between different components in a hardware or software system. If appropriate, please also include a flow chart showing the steps your design needs to go through to function. The online program draw.io is a great tool to create polished block diagrams and flow charts. Likewise Microsoft's visio is also a great program to create block diagrams and flow charts. */
System Overview
/* Provide descriptions to your block diagram and flow chart. State the purpose of each block. */
Parts
/* Provide a list of parts that you may need for your project. This list may change as you work on your project. */
- Knee/ Elbow Brace
- Arduino Micro
- Battery pack
- Flex sensor(s)
- Temperature Sensor
- Bluetooth/ transceiver
- Heart Rate Sensor
- Accelerometer and Gyro Sensor
- Wires, resistors, and other essentials.
Possible Challenges
/* Please list some of the challenges that your group foresee in working on your project. */
One of the greatest difficulties of this project is managing heat. Body braces are specially designed to provide breath ability and temperature control to the affected area. Introducing electronic parts to this brace will inevitably heat up the system, and that may interfere with comfort of the user. Ideally, this brace should feel in all regards like a regular brace.
Additionally, the entire setup has to be lightweight. The user should not be weighed down by the electronics, and the brace will not function as intended if it is too bulky.
References
/* List all references you used in your proposal. This is important, you do not want to be blamed for plagiarism. IEEE citation format is highly recommended. You can use citethisforme.com's IEEE citation generator to painlessly generate your references in this style. */
Posted by chorn4 at Feb 20, 2017 21:40