What is the deadline? How much time do I have left?
I have two more days until June 15, 2018 which is my final presentation day.
What tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain?
1. The adaptive chair and tray are completed.
2. The PCB for the headmouse is working but the connections are messy, especially the USB wire connections to the board. The resonator is sitting on top of the chip. There are high chances of short circuits. Also, some of the traces have started coming out near the USB wire connections due to repeated soldering and desoldering. In a perfect world, I would wish to make this board again from scratch. But there is not much time left before the presentation. May be later.
3. The programme works fine. The mouse pointer moves as per the movement of the sensor on the PCB.
4. I have made a press-fit box to contain the electronics for the head mouse. If time permits, I could go for a better design - may be 3D print it.
5. I haven't yet figured out if I could make the headmouse work over a bluetooth connection with the PC.
How will I complete the remaining tasks in time?
I'm going to focus on integrating whatever I have completed so far, to make them presentable. I'm going to start working on the video and poster. I want to present my story well - to highlight my assistive technology background and how the concept of fablab is important to me.
What has worked?
I'm glad that the head mouse worked. I'm visualizing putting together the chair, tray and headmouse as an 'adaptive seating and computer access system for a child with motor impairment'. As an AT professional, I'm happy with how my Fab academy journey has progressed in finding a solution to a specific problem.
What hasn't?
I could not make the dynamic head-rest. I'm still thinking about its design.
I want the head-mouse to be wireless and work over bluetooth connection. I have not yet figured out how to do that.
The detachable tray is not yet stable enough for use. I have to find ways to fix it.
What questions still need to be resolved?
The things that I have made are yet to be evaluated by the users, who are people with disability, their caretakers and disability professionals. That will be my moment of truth when I will find glaring design flaws that will affect the comfort of the user.
What have you learned?
I have gained confidence in my skills to fetch information from the internet, design on my own and bring things to reality in a fablab. I'm especially proud of my newly acquired skills in electronics. I'm less intimidated by the machines in Fablab and eager to work more with them in the future.