Fail Fast Iterate Often Lessons Learned in a Two and a Half Year Partnership with Research Experience for Veterans and Teachers (REV- T) Mahender Mahi Mandala, Pitt Doctoral Student Brother Tony Baginski, Central Catholic High School
The REV- T Program at Pitt Goal of RET Program help build long- term collaborative partnerships between k- 12 & community college STEM faculty and NSF research community $91M invested in more than 60 active RET programs across 25 US states. Programs last anywhere from 1-10weeks. Focus ranges from short research experience or structured pedagogical approach to a approaches including assistance w/ curriculum implementation REVT at Pitt includes Veterans and K12 Teachers Provide teachers with authentic DBL experience & curriculum development Provide veterans with opportunity to engage in STEM DBL and gain confidence/test out in zero academic pressure environment
How Does the REV- T Work? Design Based Course Curriculum Development Research Internship DBL Unit at K12 Design Competition Teachers Veterans Fall Teachers only Spring Veterans only Summer Teachers only Fall K12 Students Fall Flipped classroom approach Theory thru lectures online. In- class supplemental learning and team discussions. Learn the engineering design language and process design thinking. Work with real clients Explore all potential stakeholders. Understand their perspective and needs. Ethnographical approaches. Create and realize ideas Engineering involves designing and building. Fail fast iterate often. Details matter.
Typical REV- T Project Randy has C- 5 injury No control of digits. Cannot use certain ATMs and most Parking meters Team engaged with Randy over 12 weeks
Early Prototypes
Final Design and Build
Benefit to the Teachers Work with Veterans, Engineers, and Colleagues from Other Schools Participate in Engineering Design The Human Side of Engineering A Level of Comfort with Software and Tools Time to Develop Curriculum Well Compensated our their Time
Benefit to the Students A Well Developed Project I Can Feel Your Pain Hidden Talents Emerge Connections to the Community The kernel for Engineering1 3D- Modeling Opportunities to Participate in Competitions and Showcase their Work Internship Opportunities
Full Arm Motorcycle Limb Engineers: Harry Suver, Anthony Tirone, Rob Dulick School: Central Catholic Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrgl0uixt- U Early Design Concepts Our client is a twenty- one year old male, who lost his left arm in a failed military mission. His right arm is fully intact and his left arm was cut off just below the shoulder. He had a love for riding motorcycles. He wanted a safe way to continue riding his motorcycle but cannot use his prosthetic arm because it poses a safety hazard Needs & Metrics Testing Need 7: Metric 7:: The device can hold the handlebars, when snug, until at least 100 newtons of force is applied. Extra: The device needs 10 lbs of force to be removed. Need 5 & 6: Metric 5 &6: Elbow moves less than 9 degrees to the back and directly to the sides The arm spring needs 8 newtons of force to be at a direct 90 degree angle with the elbow joint. Utilities: Safe PVC arm structure, sturdy frame and design, durability, Novelties: adjustable handle grips, spring comfort system, & comfortable shoulder attachment Side View Top View Testing force required to detach from handlebar. Design Concept and Explanation For our final prototype, we took the best parts out of each of our original designs and put them together. In the drawing at the top left you ll see that we were planning on using wires and springs to absorb impact when the client applied the brakes on his bikes, which got us thinking about us using a spring. The top right drawing shows that we evolved our plan to include a flexible elbow, which is shown. The 2 uppermost drawings show that we were originally going to build a sleeve as the hand to slide over the handlebar of the motorcycle. This hand did not grip the bar well in the tests, so we built the hand to fit in to the bar like a door lock. In the middle- left drawing, our spring elbow began to take shape, but was not sturdy and could flop around in any direction. To solve this problem, we built a metal cage on the backside of the spring to give it support and allow it to bend in the right direction (shown in Market Size for the Product Market Size: Statistics from the Amputee Coalition suggest that there is a wide market of possible customers for our product. In the US alone, there is an estimated 41,000 people who have lost their full arm. Also, it is stated that 4 in every 10,000 live births result in an upper limb loss. 75% of which are full or partial loss of the arm. Every year there are approx. 3,953,590 births in the US according to the CDC. That means that there are approx. 131 children born without an arm each year. According to the NHTSA approximately 3% of all vehicles are motorcycles. According to a 2007 DOT study there are over 254.4 million vehicles registered in the US. This means that there are approx. 7,632,000 motorcycles in the US. It is not known for sure the amount of people who have no arm and are willing to ride a motorcycle, but with the popularity of motorcycles, the amount of people who have no arm, and the amount of people born with that defect each year, it is safe to say that there will be a sufficient market and Testing degree of motion In the future, we hope to be able to build the product with lightweight, stronger materials and mass produce it at a relatively low cost. We want to be able to mass produce the arm and customize the hand for each clients individual needs. Our hope is that this prosthetic will also be able to aid disabled people in poor countries for a very affordable cost.
Benefit to the School The Engineering Design Process: Involves many disciplines Requires leadership team work and inter- personal skills Messy & frustrating Rewarding Relies on tried and true methods Is open to new and different possibilities Fail fast iterate often continue to improve
Benefit to the School Improving Education: Involves many disciplines Requires leadership team work and inter- personal skills Messy & frustrating Rewarding Relies on tried and true methods Is open to new and different possibilities Fail fast iterate often continue to improve
REV- T Application RET HERL http://herl.pitt.edu/education/k- 12/teachers Applications open starting this month for session starting Fall of 2016 Veterans and Teachers can apply CMU is applying to be a RET site as well
Thank you!