Constructing a Prosthetic Arm Teacher Professional Development Fall Workshop Dr. Michael Crocker, Asst. Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) Leon Haskins, Math Scholars/Tutor Coordinator at Tacoma MESA Nathaniel Ward, Science/Technology Coordinator at Tacoma MESA
Overview Overview of Challenge –Focus Areas for Challenge –Challenge Tasks Engineering Design Process Prosthetic Arm Build Examples Build Your Own and Test It Oral Presentation of Design and Results
Focus Areas For Challenge Grasping mechanism Versatility of use Simultaneous strength and dexterity Detail-oriented manual tasks
Challenge Tasks Distance Accuracy Relay: Accurate throwing different sized balls into different buckets Object Relocation: Move many objects of different weights into a container Dexterity: Fasten nuts/bolts using a wrench
Engineering Design Process Identifying the problem Brainstorming possible solutions Designing a prototype Building/Manufacturing Testing Evaluating Writing a final summary/report Redesigning
Prosthetic Arm Build Examples Add Photo Here Add Photo Here Three Example Design Ideas Add Photo Here The Claw!The Pringle Finger!The Scissor Grip!
Teacher Modification Examples Arms created at teacher workshop in July! The Claw?The Pringle Finger?The Scissor Grip?
Supplies All designs contain a 4” Plastic pipe sleeve with handle to which the full apparatus is attached. NOTE, the handle is not legal for use in competition. Within Each Kit There are the Following: Materials Instructions Tools Available Extra Supplies Available
Now It Is Your Turn Build Your Own and Test It –Approximately 2hrs Start your design based on one of the prototypes –Make improvements –Practice the tasks –Redesign if needed –Test > Compete > Brag > Trash talk > Repeat –Oral Presentation of Design and Results 40 minutes total / 5 minutes for each group Summary of design and its effectiveness Possible future improvements Feedback to us on this experience –How would students react to this activity? –Would this be a useful starting point for the challenge?
Oral Presentation: What to Cover What brainstorming ideas did your group come up with? Which ideas did you try to implement? How did you evaluate your design? How successful was your design? What are some future improvements? How could this activity and approach help your students design for the challenge?