January 14, 2016

Today, we designed a hinge for this prototype. One will be printed so that we can make further adjustments before printing two. We will begin exploring different material options, design shapes, and whether we will be doing an outside-the-shoe brace or one that fits inside the shoe. A band will need to be ordered so that the calf section will be secure, and we will need to figure out a method of securing the bottom section. The product's general design will be perfected before allowing increased motor function through adjustable tension.
Also, a second meeting will be scheduled with our City As Our Campus Mentor to discuss our prototype and future plans.

We hope to order this cinch strap (12 inch). These can be used to secure the calf section and maybe the foot sole section as well. https://www.securecableties.com/12-inch-black-cinch-strap-5-pack 

January 13, 2016

The new parts have been printed. We will now focus on designing the attachment for these pieces.

January 12, 2016

Today, we edited the CAD model for the calf section so that instead of a 180 degree rotation, it is a 195 degree rotation. This will hopefully allow the holes at the bottom to line up more parallel. We also edited the foot sole attachment so that the two pieces fit closer together. These will be printed again, and then we will design the attachment of the two pieces and the function that lifts the user's toes up.

January 8, 2016

The products that are being designed now for this issue of drop-foot restrict the client's foot and calf to 90 degrees. This inhibits them to walk completely naturally, and often, the individual actually has the strength to push off with their foot sole in order to propel themselves forward (this requires a greater than 90 degree angle). Our design will not restrict this movement, but will use an elastic adjustment system to push the individual's toes up (making the angle less than 90 degrees) after they have lifted their foot up in the process of walking.

January 7, 2016

The second part of our brace (the design which goes outside of the shoe) has been printed and seems to fit nicely with the calf section. We will continue to make adjustments.

January 6, 2016

Today while designing the foot sole part of our brace, I came up with the idea to possibly be able to get rid of the sole that goes in the shoe altogether. The calf part of the brace can instead be attached to any shoe and still provide the user with the same assistance because now the shoe itself is acting as the sole that is attached to the rest of the brace. Also this way, the costs can be cut because the majority of the product is the one section which is 3D printed. We will explore this idea and most likely design two products, one with the sole that fits inside the shoe and one in which the shoe is used as the "sole" itself (this will require a semi-custom/adjustable attachment to work with different types of shoes/sizes which will need to be made out of durable material and a strap to secure the shoe). After we have concrete prototypes for each, we will begin exploring the actual functionality and how our elastic-adjustment will work.
-Naomi

This will be printed

January 4, 2016

We started off the first class of the new year creating an abstract for our AFO.  We gave a general synopsis of the device including such knowledge as the prototyping process, the device's goal, and the future of our research/design process. The official abstract can be viewed in the Design Process tab or at this following link http://mobilitycures2016.blogspot.com/p/design-process.html.