End of week 4 means there is only one week left in the Tokyo iSEED program! This past week we have spent a lot of time brainstorming, gathering materials and prototyping for our final design solution to help with an accessibility problem.
In the brainstorming phase, in keeping with the themes of addressing the needs of an aging population in Tokyo, we knew we wanted to tackle something elderly people struggled with around the home. Eventually we arrived at “Curb-O.” Curb-O is an autonomous robot that is intended to help both the elderly and anyone else who struggles with the large, cumbersome trash bins, take out the trash more easily than ever. Curb-O is made up of two parts. The first part is a pulley system with a quick release that allows the user to quickly and easily get the trash bag up to the height of the bin and drop it inside. Then once trash day roles around the 2nd part of Curb-O, the autonomous platform that is underneath the trash can will drive the bin out to the curb for you. The autonomous platform uses color sensors to follow a black taped line laid out on the users driveway and stops at the edge of the curb. Then, when the ultrasonic sensor inside the bin detects it has been emptied, Curb-O will return to your house. The platform is intended to be installed once and remain beneath the trash can for the duration of its use.
Gathering materials was probably the most difficult part of this project. We spent around six hours walking around Akihabara, “the electric city” to find all the parts with the specific specifications we wanted and although it was pretty difficult it was also an incredible experience. We got to work together to try and maximize our time and decision making, adapting our idea of our prototype as we learned what materials would be available to us and what parts might be out of reach. Then based on that information, traveling to new stores to obtain parts that became absolutely necessary as our prototype evolved and rerouting from parts that were no longer relevant.
Prototyping is also shaping up to be a bunch of fun as the main base for our prototype is basically a tank drive with attachments we are enjoying putting together what is may be one of the most over-engineered toy cars.
We also got to take two trips as a full class. The first was to the Kasukabe Underground Flood Protection Tank. This tank works by diverting water from one river bank when it floods, sending it through a massive tank dotted with pillars and then using a jet engine to pump it into the outflow of another river. In addition to simply being in awe of such a humongous marvel of engineering, the humanitarian impacts also amazed me. Tokyo was having a problem with flooding, so their engineers came together to create a solution sponsored by the government. It brought up questions for me of what I actually want to do with my engineering degree because clearly it can be used to great benefit of society of used correctly. However, back in Houston the most common uses seem to be more associated with maintaining the status quo instead of breaking ground on the problems that so many Houstonians are facing.
The second trip was to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation where I continued to learn about how Japan’s engineers are working towards tackling their countries problems. One entire section of the museum was dedicated to the science of aging. Explaining in great detail what happens to each part of your body: your brain, your muscles, your eyes and anything you can think of. Then it talked about what technology was being developed to help support the aging progression of that part and how we can support the rapidly aging population of Japan. A lot of the museum was also interactive. For instance, they had a quantum computing DJ booth where you could manipulate the probability of certain beats being played using logic gates. Overall, it was really cool to see what technology is just around the corner and how the museum chose to portray it and explain the concepts.
Looking forward to the last week!