The Trumpeter Team Armstrong team 218-1 Ben Ordway, Kalyn Roberts, Mark Baum EF 152 Spring, 2018 4/3/2018
Customers Target Audience: -The physically disabled that want to play the trumpet. -This device is suited for physically disabled people that have either played the trumpet prior to their disability or are wanting to learn for the first time. Purpose: -The Trumpeter will assist anyone continuing or starting their journey as a trumpet player. The use of remapped buttons and a stand for the trumpet allows the player to have his/her arms to their side while being able to control the valves of the instrument.
Conceptual Design Our initial design consisted of 3 brushless motors mounted to the trumpet that were controlled wirelessly through a raspberry pi 3. When the buttons were pushed, the motors would spin only a quarter-turn to depress the valves. Design Flaws: While choosing motors to build around, we did not consider the torque required to depress the valves. Small brushless motors are designed to spin at a very high rpm, but have very low torque rating.
Final Design -In order to gain enough torque from the motors, in our final design, we switched to a servo motor. This type of motor allows us to have the right amount of torque to push the valves while still remaining small enough to mount on the trumpet. -In our final design, we also scrapped the idea of having a wireless connection to a raspberry pi, and instead hardwire the motors to battery packs, which greatly reduces our production cost.
Final Design Parts Servo- 180 Degree Servo used to rotate the arms that will press the keys of the trumpet Push Button- Used to complete circuits to servo. Battery Packs- 2 battery packs were used. One was used to turn servo arm and the other to return servo arm back to original position.
Final Design Wiring
Concept Prototype
Marketing Video
Design Solutions We needed to be creative on how we can make the parts we paid for work in our design. For example, the button we bought only completed one circuit while in order to have the servo to release the key press we needed another circuit. We drilled holes on the sides of the button allowing us access to the metal pin that completes the circuit. Along with needed two circuits we needed 2 sets of battery packs for each button and servo. Lastly the servos we have contain a switch signal which we had to bypass inorder to get the motor to run. These things could have been where an arduino or raspberry pi would have been useful.
Customer Feedback and Results Customer: Relative with child that is an amputee. Feedback: The customer loved the idea of giving someone the opportunity to follow a dream or a hobby. They loved that the trumpet would be stationary on a stand,and the buttons act as trumpet keys. The thing they would have changed were they wanted the buttons to have the same feel as a trumpet.
Cost and Time Estimate Design/Prototyping Costs: 3 servo motors - $30.00 3 switches and battery packs - $5.00 Design time: 5 hours Material cost for 1000 units: About $30,000 Retail Price: $60.00 per unit
Summary Our mission was to allow the disabled to never give up on themselves. We wanted to make something to allow them to run after their dreams, for career or hobby, and cost effective. Our assistive device embodies our mission by enabling those without arms to play the trumpet, and is not a very expensive piece of equipment. The motors and battery packs allow the user to play using their toes. It was especially rewarding to hear from a family with the potential need for the device, and it showed us we were headed in the right direction.