1. Principles and Practices¶
Assignment:¶
This week I planned and sketched a potential final project.
Idea I) Concussion Detecting Mouthguard¶
Research¶
Every year, millions of athletes in the United States experience concussions. With athletes at all levels of play getting bigger, faster, and stronger, it has been suggested that newer technologies may provide an opportunity to reduce the risk and severity of these all too frequent injuries.
“Every year, approximately 1.7 million people in the United States are hospitalized or die as a result of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). These figures, however, are believed to drastically under represent the total incidence of TBI, as many individuals with mild or moderate TBI do not seek medical care (5, 6). A portion of these brain injuries are considered concussions, meaning that a direct or indirect blow to the head, face, neck, or body results in an alteration of mental status or produces one or more of 25 recognized post-concussion symptoms. It has been estimated that 1.6 million to 3.8 million of these concussions occur annually as a direct result of participation in athletics (5, 6, 8). The changes in neurologic function associated with concussion often present rapidly and resolve spontaneously. As such, many concussions are unreported and unrecognized by coaches, trainers, or the athletes themselves. A further confounding factor resulting in underreporting the total incidence of concussions is the desire of the athlete to return to play .” (Daneshvar, D. H., Baugh, C. M., Nowinski, C. J., Mckee, A. C., Stern, R. A., & Cantu, R. C. (2011). Helmets and Mouth Guards: The Role of Personal Equipment in Preventing Sport-Related Concussions. Clinics in Sports Medicine, 30(1), 145-163. doi:10.1016/j.csm.2010.09.006)
The importance of understanding and preventing these impacts is increasing. and Athletes have been getting bigger, faster, and stronger, leading to more forceful collisions, which are more likely to cause concussions. The mechanisms underlying these concussions, as well as methods of prevention, have been investigated both in the lab and in the field. The simplest of these preventative measures appear to be rule changes, rule enforcement, and player and coach education. In addition to these suggestions, equipment changes have been proposed in an attempt to help prevent concussions, including modifications of helmets and mouth guards.
Idea II) Electronic Bike that charges as you ride.¶
Idea III) Smart Jacket with climate control technology that charges as you walk.¶
People spend huge amounts of money to heat and cool their homes. My idea is to design a garment that can heat/cool your body instead of an entire room.I want to use regenerative energy to charge the jacket.
Idea IV) Marijuana Vaporizer “FabVape”¶
With the legalization of marijuana, new doors will be opening for the invention, fabrication and enhancement, of machines and devices in the industry. My proposed idea is to create a fab-able marijuana flower vaporizer.
Idea V) Auto-lacing Sneakers¶
Inspirations¶
Peltier Effect- When electricity runs through the junction where two different metals meet, it creates a temperature difference so that one side heats up and the other side cools down. Thermoelectric materials that touch the skin either heat or cool your body; it’s your choice. The pucks are placed at points where sweating is low, but blood vessels are very dense — in other words, the most efficient places for regulating body temperature.
Problem: Such heat-exchange devices also need fans to blow away the heat. Solution: nano-materials with no moving parts that can work with clothing?