Team 3 MacID: colvilla, carbonan, alsammad, raidahs

PROTOTYPE DESIGN BRIEF

DESCRIPTION OF FIRST PROTOTYPE
The goal of the preliminary prototype is to aid Ms. Liu in completing fine motor skill -related
activities with minimal joint movement due to her inflammation and stiffness of joints. The first
prototype for the prosthetic glove was made as a visual aid to describe the product without any
functions. We built it out of a winter glove with four cardboard cutouts of fingers to represent
the prosthetic fingers. The glove had four prosthetic fingers on the front side to mimic three
forefingers and a thumb. The main action of the prosthetics was to amplify any action the finger
would output. All the fingers but the pinky had an assigned prosthetic on the device. For instance,
if the user would want to point with their index finger, they would curl the thumb, middle and
ring finger and keep the index stationary. To reset, the user would move their fingers back to
their resting position. This would let Ms. Liu be able to complete her day to day activities without
adding more strain to her fingers. We also included padding in between her fingers and the device
to increase comfort as she completes tasks throughout her day.

SUMMARY OF EXTERNAL FEEDBACK

From the design review, minor revisions were recommended for our initial design. When
asking about the concept, one of the questions that arose was, “Does Ms. Liu have to hold her
hand in a flexed position for the prosthetic fingers to remain closed?” Initially, the user would
have to hold their fingers down to hold a certain position and then bring it back to a relaxed state
to reset the finger. One of the ideas suggested was to have each prosthetic finger programmed
to a predetermined set point as opposed to each prosthetic amplifying the motion of the user’s
fingers. This was changed as it may not be feasible or necessary for the user to have independent
movement of each finger. For instance, the movement of the middle finger could result in a
closed fist and flexion of the ring finger would bring the prosthetic back to the relaxed state.

The product’s initial purpose was to aid the user with all tasks from turning the cap of a water
bottle to gripping a pencil, but the team of judges addressed the problems that may arise due to
the variance in required force of the copious actions. A judge proposed the idea of possibly
creating two gloves: one for heavy objects and the other for fine motor skills. The idea was quickly
dismissed as it would be unnecessary to make a device for heavy items since Ms. Liu’s limited
joint mobility and pain prevents her from picking up heavy objects. Even though we would have
liked for our device to be as versatile as possible, narrowing the abilities of the device would be
in our best interest.
Team 3 MacID: colvilla, carbonan, alsammad, raidahs

Thereby, the decision was made to have the device’s functions encompass simple gripping
motions, specifically holding a pencil. This movement of holding a pencil also branches out to
multiple other daily activities such as holding a toothbrush or utensil, therefore giving Ms. Liu a
range of tasks, she can complete independently with minimal pain. Other than these minor
adjustments, the reviewers seemed to enjoy our idea and were excited to see the final prototype.

REVISIONS & SUMMARY OF INTERNAL FEEDBACK

One method for determining which elements of our idea would need modification stemmed
from building our preliminary prototype and conducting basic testing. The first observation we
made was that in order to minimize the restrictions caused by the device on the client completing
tasks, the physical computing components would have to be secured on the back of the glove
leaving the palm free of obstruction. This would ensure the user could close their fingers without
the obstruction that would arise from having some of these elements on the palm of the glove.

We reoriented the elements including the Raspberry Pi, Pi Sugar, and motor drivers so they
were all situated on the back face of the glove. We designed a 3D printed casing for these
elements to ensure they would remain securely in place and were all oriented to minimize
volume on the back of the hand. Additionally, the servo motors would be secured on the side of
the glove.

A second revision was based on feedback we received from our first design critique session
and entailed changing the movement of the prosthetic fingers in relation to the flex detected by
the sensor. Originally, we had chosen to have the motorized fingers mimic the movement of the
user’s hand, but on a scale that exaggerated the movements. However, we changed this to
minimize the movement required by the user to produce a desired result from the device. We
assigned each finger a different movement so that the user only needs to move one finger slightly
to elicit a movement from all the motorized fingers.

FINAL PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION

Our main objective was to design a wearable device that aided Ms. Liu in fine motor skill
movement, specifically holding a pencil. Our final prototype would consist of a glove that contains
prosthetic fingers that flex and extend in response to user input. The glove would have an
ON/OFF button on the left side to ease the operation process. A charging port is also located on
the left side of the glove for the user to recharge when the battery is depleted.
Team 3 MacID: colvilla, carbonan, alsammad, raidahs

There are to be four prosthetic fingers fixed to the palm of the hand including a thumb, index,
middle and ring finger. We have chosen not to include a pinky finger as it will not aid in achieving
our goal of gripping a pencil. The processing unit will be fixed on the back of the glove, and the
prosthetic fingers are to be secured to the palm of the glove. This allows the prosthetic fingers to
flex and extend without physical interference of the user’s fingers. A flex sensor is embedded
into the fabric of each finger of the glove. The flex sensors can detect a user’s minor flexion and
send that signal to the processing unit, which then translates it to the appropriate response.

Each prosthetic has a string that runs through it which is attached to a rotating shaft at the
base. The thumb has its own specific shaft while the rest of the central fingers share a common
shaft. A motor is fixed to each side of the glove, driving its respective shaft. This causes the strings
to wind, resulting in the opening and closing of the prosthetics. The thumb is to be controlled
separately as it will allow the user to precisely adjust the orientation in which their pencil is held
according to their needs. Flexion of the flex sensors will signal the processing unit to actuate the
prosthetic fingers via the servo motors.

It is important that servo motors are used as they provide an idling current, ensuring that the
rotating shafts are held stationary at their desired position upon application of an external force.
This is a crucial aspect of our design as we must ensure the fingers are held firmly in place when
an object such as a pencil is being held. The prosthetic fingers are to be 3D printed using NinjaFlex
filament, which is flexible as required by our design, yet is still strong enough to hold objects
desired by the user. The NinjaFlex is also unique in that it is capable of 660% elongation, ensuring
that the prosthetics will not fail [1].

An important aspect of our design is size, as we acknowledge that the user will not want to
wear a bulky device. For this reason, the electrical components on the back of the hand have
been configured to maximize surface area to ensure a slim profile of the device, as opposed to
stacking components. Our low fidelity prototype uses a Raspberry Pi Zero as the processing unit
which is powered by a Pi Sugar battery pack. Other components include an analog -to-digital
converter and a motor driver which accommodates the sensors and motors. To decrease size and
enhance user comfortability, a custom printed circuit board (PCB) containing a programmed
microcontroller and required electrical elements in our final prototype would be used.
Team 3 MacID: colvilla, carbonan, alsammad, raidahs

TEST PLAN OF PROTOTYPE

In order to test the BioGrip and ensure it fulfills our team’s need statement; i.e. to design an
assistive device that aids Ms. Liu in completing fine motor skill-related activities with minimal
joint movement due to her inflammation and stiffness of joints, a three-stage process would be
conducted. Firstly, each team member would be allotted time to acquaint themselves with using
the device and overcome the learning curve that is associated with using any new product. More
specifically, each team member would have time to attempt and practice performing various day
to day activities with the BioGrip, such as brushing their teeth, using a pencil, picking up a glass,
just to name a few. After becoming familiar with each task, each team member would then
record whether they believe the BioGrip is capable of doing said task.

The second stage would consist of each team member wearing the BioGrip, for a whole day
and making an effort to perform tasks that were deemed feasible in stage one. Throughout the
day, the team member would record which tasks they thought were convenient, meaning that
the task was executed efficiently; which were inconvenient, meaning the task took a lot longer
than usual; or incomplete, meaning they took the glove off to complete the task or used their
other hand. Upon the completion of the trials, the tasks that all four team members had recorded
as convenient would then be considered the tasks with which the BioGrip could assist.

The final stage of testing would involve teaching Ms. Liu how to use the BioGrip and with which
tasks the device can assist her. Ms. Liu would then be able to conduct those tasks and provide
feedback on what aspects of the BioGrip work efficiently and which aspects need adjusting. Upon
making the custom refinements for Ms. Liu, we would then let her use the device for a number
of days until contacting her for feedback on how the BioGrip works and if it effectively assists her
with fine-motor skill activities.
Team 3 MacID: colvilla, carbonan, alsammad, raidahs

REFERENCES
[1] “NinjaTek | NinjaFlex.” https://ninjatek.com/ninjaflex/ (accessed Apr. 07, 2020).