May 17, 2016

Our poster for the stem symposium pictured below: 

May 9, 2016

Elastic, no-tie shoelaces will be used for  the elasticity function.Tightened in the front, they will keep the bands on the correct sides of the brace. Our next step is to finalize our poster for the Stem Symposium.

April 27, 2016

The flexible insole section has printed and fits well with the calf section. We realized that we needed to 1. work on a method (cap) to keep the side attachments secure to the pegs and 2. construct a groove or a hole in the pegs so that the rubber bands stay in the correct place.

By drilling a hole into the pegs, we were able to feed the rubber band through all three holes. This design succeeds in both connecting the sections so the attachments don't come apart and keeping the rubber band on the correct side of the peg so that it lifts the insole section in the right direction.

April 25, 2016

We will be printing our insole section in a filament that is a little flexible and our calf section will remain in the hard plastic material for now. After testing the elasticity function with a rubber band, we found that there was difficulty keeping the insole section attached to the calf section on the left side. We will either get rid of the left-side attachments, or we will find pegs to keep the brace secure.

April 19, 2016

The brace fits inside of the shoe and works well while walking. Our next steps are to experiment with different printing materials and incorporate the elasticity function with a rubber band.

April 15, 2016

Today, we are editing our device further - with the attachments that connect to the middle of the insole, the device does not fit into the shoe, so we will connect them perpendicularly.  This will allow for the device to fit into the shoe and to also print correctly, without excess plastic inhibiting functionality.

April 7, 2016

Today, we designed the updated insole section. We will have this as well as the calf section printed. We also have reached out to schedule another meeting with Dr. Matt Caster. In addition, we discussed our project expectations for the rest of the year. These constructing a final brace that fits inside of the shoe, is usable, includes the elasticity function, and experiments with different filaments.