Wednesday. Each day waking up gets harder and harder. I must sleep earlier.
We went to ULACIT and began our first day dedicated solely to our Engi 200 projects. Because my whole group had already done the initial research on our project, creating a device that simulates Parkinson’s tremors, our first tasks were to adjust our design criteria and perform a second round of brainstorming. We decided that we would try to use the offset rotating weight on a dc motor, but we would move it to the top of the hand, held on by velcro straps. We were able to salvage a dc motor from the electronics kits in the room, and we connected it to a battery and put a pen on top as the offset weight. Once we proved that this was able to cause vibration in the hand, we placed it on a Selina wristband (from the hostel we are staying at), and then taped the DC motor on. In one day, we had developed a working prototype. In the evening, we cooked dinner, played pool, and I watched a bit of Stranger Things to unwind.
James taking a shot on the Selina pool table
On Thursday, we needed to find a way to test how well our device simulated these tremors. After doing some research, we found a clinical test called the Archimedes spiral, where patients with tremors had to draw a spiral, and the doctor would rate how severe the tremor was based off of the level of deviation from the guide spiral. We found a website that contains a virtual version of this test on an iPad, and calculates the probability of the spiral being abnormal based on different metrics measured from the guide spiral. One big struggle we had was trying to figure out how the app makes these calculations, which is what we will put our effort into this coming week. We 3-D printed a holder for the motor, which enabled us to create a more sophisticated prototype to prepare for our technical design review. In the evening, I was very tired so I took a nap, and then we went out with a friend from the Medical Innovation bootcamp. We had a great time together.
On Friday, we had our technical design reviews. My team was very happy with how ours turned out, and other teams impressed me with how far they had got on their prototypes. I really love the more unstructured format of Engi 200 compared to Engi 120, because it allows teams to work on their own pace, and put more time toward parts of the project they need to focus on more, in order to be the most productive they can be with their time. Also, having limited time forces us to work harder and also think pragmatically about what we can achieve within the three-week time span that we have. In the afternoon, Jefferson, Jake, Sarah and I got tacos and made observations within the Avenida Central and the Jade Museum. The Jade museum was very nice, and was pleasing to walk through. I felt that it was a great way to learn more about the history of Costa Rica, as Jade played a large part in it.
One of the floors of the Jade Museum
On Saturday, we took the 6:30am bus from terminal 7-10 to Monteverde, and arrived in Santa Elena around 10:30am. From there we went to the Santa Elena trails, and took about a 4.5km hike around the forest. We went up to an observation deck where we should have been able to see the Arenal Volcano, but it was way too cloudy. However, it was still cool to be inside a cloud. After the hike, we were all beat, so we went back to our hostel, cooked up some quesadillas, and decided we’d take the night to relax. Part of that night was spent watching videos of orangutan asmr, and national geographic spy animals.
Hiking in Santa Elena
On Sunday, we got up around 7:00 and ate breakfast before heading to a zipline adventure park. We went on 13 different ziplines across the forest, and the views were so sick. The longest one was 1km, which I was able to ride on my stomach which they call the “superman” position, and that was a rush. It also had the best views. We took a hanging bridge tour and walked through the forest. We heard a really loud animal call that sounded like a roar, but when we located its source, it was only a kind little monké. I wonder what he was trying to say.
Us on the bridges (thanks for the cool pic from behind Douglas)
We then got some lunch and went back to our hostel to grab our bags before catching our bus back. We got back to the Selina around 7:00 and then Walsh, Jefferson and I got KFC and played some pool. James opted to go to Playa Hermosa for the weekend to surf, so we reunited with him around 8:00. Now, everyone is peacefully getting ready for the day tomorrow. Time to start another week of the grind.
Adios,
Brendan