On an in any other case darkish and wet Monday night time, attendees packed Kresge Auditorium for a full of life and colourful celebration of pupil product designs, as a part of the ultimate shows for MIT’s common class 2.009 (Product Engineering Processes).
With “Steadiness!” as its theme, the colourful present attracted a whole lot of attendees together with hundreds extra who tuned in on-line to see college students pitch their merchandise.
The shows have been the end result of a semester’s price of labor during which six pupil groups have been challenged to design, construct, and draft a marketing strategy for a product, in a course of meant to emulate what engineers expertise as a part of a design crew at a product improvement agency.
“This semester, we pushed the six groups to step exterior of their consolation zones and discover equilibrium between creativity and technical rigor, all as they launched into a product engineering course of journey,” mentioned 2.009 lecturer Josh Wiesman.
Looking for a steadiness
The course, identified on campus as “two-double-oh-nine,” marks a colourful finish to the autumn semester on campus. Every crew, named after a special shade, was given mentors, entry to makerspaces, and a price range of $7,500 to show their concepts into working merchandise. Within the course of, they discovered about creativity, product design, and teamwork.
Varied on-stage demonstrations and movies alluded to this 12 months’s theme, from steadiness beam walks to scooter and skateboard rides.
“Steadiness is a phrase that can be utilized to explain stability, steadiness, symmetry, even equity or impartiality,” mentioned Professor Peko Hosoi, who co-instructed the category with Wiesman this semester. “Steadiness is one thing all of us attempt for, however we hardly ever cease to mirror on. Tonight, we invite you to mirror on steadiness and to rejoice the power and creativity of every pupil and crew.”
Security first
The coed merchandise spanned industries and sectors. The Purple Crew developed a respirator for wildland firefighters, who work to stop and management forest fires by constructing “fireplace traces.” Over the course of lengthy days in difficult terrain, these firefighters use hand instruments and chainsaws to create fireplace obstacles by digging trenches, clearing vegetation, and different work primarily based on soil and climate circumstances. The crew’s respirator is designed to comfortably relaxation on a consumer’s face and features a battery-powered air filter the dimensions of a giant water bottle that may match inside a backpack.
The masks features a filter and a valve for exhalations, with a hose that connects to the blower unit. Crew members mentioned their system supplies efficient respiratory safety in opposition to airborne particles and natural vapors as customers’ work. Every unit prices $40 to make, and the crew plans to license the product to producers, who can promote immediately to fireside departments and governments.
The Purple Crew offered Contact, a crash-detection system designed to boost security for younger bicycle riders. The machine combines {hardware} and good algorithms to detect accidents and alert dad and mom or guardians. The system contains options like a head-sensing algorithm to attenuate false alerts, plus a crash-detection algorithm that makes use of acceleration knowledge to calculate damage severity. The compact machine is splashproof and dustproof, contains Wi-Fi/LTE connectivity, and may run for per week on a single cost. With a retail value of $75 primarily based on preliminary manufacturing of 5,000 items, the crew plans to market the product to colleges and out of doors youth teams, aiming to offer younger riders extra independence whereas maintaining them secure.
On ergonomics and rehabilitation
The Yellow Crew offered an progressive machine for knee rehabilitation. Their prototype is an adjustable, wearable machine that displays sufferers’ seated workout routines in real-time. The info is processed by a cellular app and shared with the affected person’s bodily therapist, enabling tailor-made suggestions and changes. The app additionally encourages sufferers to train every day, tracks vary of movement, and provides therapists a fast overview of every affected person’s progress. The product goals to enhance restoration outcomes for postsurgery sufferers or these present process rehabilitation for knee-related accidents.
The Blue Crew, in the meantime, offered Band-It, an ergonomic instrument designed to deal with the problem of wrist ache amongst lobstermen. With their analysis exhibiting that among the many 20,000 lobstermen in North America, 1 in 3 undergo from wrist ache, the crew developed a sturdy and simple-to-use banding instrument. The product would retail for $50, with a producing price of $10.50, and features a licensing mannequin with 10 p.c royalties plus a $5,000 base licensing payment. The crew emphasised three key options: ergonomic design, simplicity, and sturdiness.
Underwater options
Some merchandise have been designed for the ocean. The Pink Crew offered MARLIN (Marine Augmented Actuality Lens Imaging Community), a system designed to assist divers see extra clearly underwater. The machine integrates into diving masks and incorporates a video projection system that improves visibility in murky or cloudy water circumstances. The system creates a 3D-like view that helps divers higher choose distances and depth, whereas additionally processing and enhancing the video feed in real-time to make it simpler to see in poor circumstances. The crew included a hinged design that enables the system to be simply faraway from the masks when wanted.
The Inexperienced Crew offered Neptune, an underwater communication machine designed for newbie scuba divers. The system options six preprogrammed messages, together with important diving communications like “Ascend,” “Marine Life,” “Take a look at Me,” “One thing’s Off,” “Air,” and “SOS.” The compact machine has a variety of 20 meters underwater, can function at depths of as much as 50 meters, and runs for six hours on a battery cost. Constructed with customized electronics to make sure clear and dependable communications underwater, Neptune is housed in a water-resistant enclosure with an intuitive button interface. The communications techniques might be bought to dive outlets in packs of two for $800. The crew plans to have dive outlets hire the units for $15 a dive.
“Product engineers of the longer term”
All through the night time, spectators in Kresge cheered and waved colourful pompoms as groups demonstrated their prototypes and shared enterprise plans. Groups pitched their merchandise with movies, tales, and elaborate props.
In closing, Wiesman and Hosoi thanked the many individuals behind the scenes, from lab instructors and instructing assistants to these working to provide the night time’s present. In addition they counseled the scholars for embracing the rigorous and infrequently chaotic coursework, all whereas striving for steadiness.
“This all began a mere 13 weeks in the past with ideation, speaking to individuals from all walks of life to grasp their challenges and uncover issues and alternatives,” Hosoi mentioned. “The category’s six phases of product design finally turned our college students into product engineers of the longer term.”
