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(Design Project: Choice Board – Team 2a Fall 2024)
The objective of our design project is to create an adaptive choice board tailored to the specific needs of a three-year-old girl with Rett Syndrome. Due to her condition, the board must be lightweight and durable, enabling her to practice motor skills and facilitate communication. It will also include features for enjoyment and ensure her comfort while using it.
Claire has Rett Syndrome, a condition that affects brain development and leads to the gradual loss of skills and abilities. Due to this condition, Claire primarily communicates through her eyes, as activities like pointing or picking things up are challenging. The choice board aims to enhance her communication abilities and potentially support improvement in her motor skills. Claire requires an adaptive choice board to aid her fine motor skills, communication, and overall growth as a child.
Due to her condition, the project requires several specific design elements and safety measures to ensure a secure and user-friendly experience.
Specifications:
Rett syndrome is a rare genetic neurological disorder that primarily affects girls. It leads to a significant loss of motor skills and causes difficulties in various areas such as speech, walking, eating, and breathing. We explored numerous avenues of ideas, in which a choice board could benefit a child with Rett syndrome.
We researched basic designs to modify them according to our specific needs. Although there are many types of choice boards available, most are commercialized which results in simple and fragile designs. This would not meet our design requirement of durability. We also proposed a dollhouse-like design that could offer several benefits; however, it was not portable and therefore did not meet our requirements. As a result, we decided to incorporate elements from other choice boards to create the version that would best serve the family.
Implementation:
Having a sensor or pressure trigger to activate audio when the slider hovers over a particular object/picture would aid in the improvement of the child’s communication skills. Two rails on ball bearings would be implemented to help slide a square around for easier motion in any direction within the board. The slider would measure the position of x and y to pinpoint location. The background and pictures can be attuned to the color and design specifications of the family.
Evaluation:
Doing a sensory board with audio may aid communication skills; however, it may entail rigorous electrical aspects for proper functionalities.
Implementation:
Having a book design for our project would allow for a compact and portable sensory board. The features are simple detachable mechanisms for the child’s play. The book would consist of various textures, colors, and moveable objects.
Evaluation:
Creating a portable design would allow access to the sensory board in various locations and settings. Multiple pages would allow greater interaction which sanctions a longer attention duration.
Dimensions:
6” x 2” x 12”
Implementation:
A choice board that could be used as an eye tracker would be very beneficial for Claire because she uses her eyes the most to communicate with her family. Another implementation would be a recording device. This would allow the mother to record various messages that Claire looks at. The picture could then be replaced so that new words and phrases are learned, adapting to Claire as she ages.
Evaluation:
Implementing a board where she could look at an object and it speaks whatever she is looking at, for example, an apple could be beneficial to her learning how to talk or know what things are. Having a book design for our project would allow for a compact and portable sensory board. The features are simple detachable mechanisms for the child’s play. The book would consist of various textures, colors, and moveable objects.
We took the cost, durability, and manufacturability of each and finalized our decisions to incorporate aspects from Concepts 1 and 2. The concept will have the overall appearance of Concept 2; however, the design will include similar communication aspects of Concept 1. The cost and manufacturability of Concept 2 are the lowest and simplest to create; however, the aid in communication and motor skills was a positive aspect of Concept 1.
Our design includes pages crafted from basswood and a premade binder. The pages measure 12″x 12″, while the binder is 13.2″x 12.8″. We’ll customize the pages with interactive elements like spinners, magnets, and sliders, allowing Claire to move them effortlessly and enhancing her fine motor skills. To match her love for Peppa Pig, we’ll stain the basswood pink. Many of the materials will be removable for easy cleaning, ensuring convenience.
Outer Cover:
We’re using a premade pink binder for the cover. Claire’s name and some pastel decals will be added to the front of the binder. It measures 13.2″x12.8″ and is 1.6″ thick, perfect to create 4 pages of sensory items that Claire can play with.
All Pages:
The pages will be 12″x12″ basswood, 1/8″ thick, stained light pink. Basswood will be joined together to create full pages.
Page 1:
This page has two fun elements: ribbons (curly, straight, and different thicknesses) and a textured alphabet. Each letter will have a different texture (like “A” might be fluffy and “B” mesh). Letters will be cut into one basswood piece and layered with another containing the materials.
Page 2:
Page 2 features three pastel-colored spinning tops with suction cups (like fidget spinners) and a bead slider with animal-shaped beads on an aluminum rod (0.25″ diameter). The tops come in yellow, green, and pink, and have insects such as ladybugs, bees, and butterflies on them.
Page 3 and 4:
Both pages 3 and 4 are magnetic whiteboards with dimensions of 9″x11″. Claire can play with 40 Peppa Pig-themed magnetic pins. An indent in one piece of basswood will be put over the magnetic board to create a border around the whiteboard.
One of our main requirements is to have a product that is accessible, even with limited mobility. This being said, we calculated the total force required to lift a page of the book. This is under the assumption that each page has a 3lbs or less force. The variable “F” is the upward force required to lift one of the pages. After our calculation, we determined that will take 1.5 lbs. of lift to flip the page
We chose basswood for our base. Using this material, provides the benefits of light-weight, easily malleable, and clean cut. With the assumption of 3lbs or less per page, we calculated the maximum displacement the basswood will experience.
The 3rd analysis done was an analysis of the hardness values for various woods, to decide what type of material to use for both the binding of the choice board, and the individual pages. After consideration, it was decided that we go with a plastic binder for the binding, as plastic was seen to be more fitting for our purposes, and Bass Wood for our pages. A graph with various wood types and their associated hardness ratings is attached below.
Megan worked in the shop to cut each wood piece to the specific dimensions and shapes on the laser cutter. She also used the belt sander to make all the pages smooth on the edges and close in size. Bailey and Megan stained and finished the wooden pieces before assembling them. Tessa assisted in cutting out the fabrics used on the alphabet pages. Bailey assembled the pages. Kayla and Megan worked on the 3D print that borders the pages. Megan tried several different 3D prints using PLA and ABS to create a border for the pages. Time did not permit, so we were unable to create a 3D-printed border however, Bailey had some felt fabric that she was able to use for the border.
