糖心传媒淲辞飞!糖心传媒�
Gracyn Chappell糖心传媒檚 eyes widened appreciably as she approached a mysterious tube filled with water in the play room at Golisano Children糖心传媒檚 Hospital.
糖心传媒淧ush the buttons, baby,糖心传媒� Kate Chappell prompts her 5-year-old daughter, who was completing a 22-day stay at the hospital.
And just like that, air bubbles began gurgling up through the water. They are tinted with red, then green, blue, purple, and pink light as Gracyn enthusiastically pushes different color-coded buttons.
糖心传媒淥h, my goodness!糖心传媒� she exclaims gleefully.
Clearly, the 糖心传媒淏iscotti Bubble Machine糖心传媒� 糖心传媒� created as a senior design project by 糖心传媒 chemical engineering students 糖心传媒� is a big hit with Gracyn.
The Golisano nurses and specialists who gathered for the unveiling are impressed as well.
糖心传媒淲e糖心传媒檙e trying to normalize the experiences of the children who come here as much as possible,糖心传媒� says Geri Sehnert, a child life specialist in Golisano糖心传媒檚 pediatric surgical center. 糖心传媒淲hen we can give them things like this to interact with, that let the children experience normal sensations, it makes a big difference in their healing.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淚糖心传媒檓 really impressed at how the students took all the information we gave them and were able to create a device that will work for us.糖心传媒�
And it took only one semester.
Applying classroom learning to a 糖心传媒榬eal-world糖心传媒� challenge
Each year, teams of seniors in ABET-accredited majors complete a culminating design project. The projects are often sponsored by outside companies or agencies, including a previous collaboration with Golisano to design an accelerometer to monitor chest wall movement for children on mechanical ventilation. The projects allow the students to apply what they糖心传媒檝e learned in class to 糖心传媒渞eal world糖心传媒� projects with 糖心传媒渞eal world糖心传媒� time and design constraints.
In this case, Wendy Lane, Golisano糖心传媒檚 Child Life program coordinator, proposed a smaller version of a large bubble machine the hospital already has 糖心传媒� one that could be used at a child糖心传媒檚 bedside and be easily operated even by a child with physical disabilities.
Rachel Monfredo, lecturer and senior technical associate in the , pitched the project to the department糖心传媒檚 seniors last fall. 糖心传媒淭hey jumped on it,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淲e actually had two teams that both really wanted to work on it.糖心传媒�
Tiwalade Dairo, Bradley Porceng, Charles (C.J.) Ruff, and Benjamin Walker won the 糖心传媒渞oll of a dice.糖心传媒�
As Walker noted in the team糖心传媒檚 final presentation, they had to overcome several challenges and work through numerous designs to create a device that would:
- not easily tip over, but still be portable, waterproof, and easy to clean.
- integrate button-activated LED lighting, a water pump, and an Arduino control board within the base.
- easily generate a 糖心传媒渟oothing糖心传媒� combination of bubbles and colors within the water column protruding out of the top of the base.
糖心传媒淓ach of us have had some coding background, but this project was really coding and wiring intensive,糖心传媒� says Dairo. So, the students took tutorials and got extra help in Arduino programming from Scott Russell, a lecturer and senior technical associate in the .
The team debated whether to put the light activating buttons on a separate control box, which is still an option. However, in the interests of time, they ended up incorporating the buttons into the base.
Thanks to John Miller, the senior laboratory engineer who runs the machine shop in Taylor Hall, they delivered their working prototype on time.
糖心传媒淲e want to give a huge-shout out to John,糖心传媒� Porceng says. Miller used the students糖心传媒� CAD designs to fabricate several of the components, and 糖心传媒渢urned them around in less than 24 hours, which was hugely helpful.糖心传媒�
Best of all, Ruff estimates, the cost of materials for the device 糖心传媒� not counting labor and fabrication 糖心传媒� is only about $125. 糖心传媒淪o, a positive takeaway from this is that we can cheaply replicate these units for much less than the one in use at the hospital,糖心传媒� he says.
More bubble machines planned
And Monfredo definitely has replication in mind.
She has turned over the design team糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渇antastic senior report糖心传媒� 糖心传媒� with detailed instructions for building the device 糖心传媒� to the student group she supervises. That group already has been adapting battery operated toys so children with physical disabilities can interact with them through enabling switches. Paul Irving 糖心传媒�21, the technical manager for Toys for All Tots, says the bubble machine project 糖心传媒渟eems super cool. I would definitely be interested in building and improving them.糖心传媒�
The group will work with Miller on creating additional bubble machines for Golisano 糖心传媒渟o you don糖心传媒檛 have just one; you could have a dozen,糖心传媒� Monfredo says. Community agencies that serve disabled children have also expressed interested in obtaining the device.
Porceng is also working with students in an entrepreneurship class taught by Duncan Moore, the assistant provost for entrepreneurship, on developing a business plan.
In the meantime, the Biscotti Bubble Machine team is basking in the glow of a job well done.
糖心传媒淪o, did we reach our goals? We believe we did,糖心传媒� Dairo says. 糖心传媒淚t was a fun project to work on, and we糖心传媒檙e glad we did it.糖心传媒�
The ultimate validation came from 5-year-old Gracyn Chappell. Twice, she broke away from the bubble machine to run over and hug the students.
糖心传媒淢y heart was just melting,糖心传媒� Porceng says.
