IMAGE-VME Project 

Rob's Guitar Adaptation Device

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In my senior design or capstone course (ENME 444), I was involved with a V-LINC, now known as VME after recently merging with the IMAGE center. My team and I developed a guitar adaptation device and support system custom-made for a physically disabled man, Rob. Rob experienced a C4 spinal cord injury at a young age and he has extremely limited mobility and strength in his arms and legs. However, he still desires to play his electric guitar. Per his request, this guitar adaptation device enables him to play chords and perform the "sliding trick" on his electric guitar. My team and I were able to successfully design, fabricate and deliver a fully functioning guitar adaptation device to allow Rob to play chords and perform the "sliding trick" on his electric guitar. In addition, we also developed a support system for the guitar and Rob's elbow. There were many considerations taken into this support system design and multiple degrees of freedom were build in for Rob to easily adjust the structure based on his level of comfort.

 

For more information about Rob, check out this video documentary here! 

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Bronze Experience (~45 hours)

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In working on this service project for Rob, I was able to gain a different perspective by understanding the problems faced by people with disabilities and recognized that there are additional requirements that are needed for those who are disabled. This was beneficial to understand the best method of design approach to ensure that the product developed fulfills the wants and needs of the people in this community. In addition, the experience allowed me to have a realistic understanding of the many challenges faced daily by those with physical disabilities and avoid making erroneous assumptions about the capabilities of the people I wish to serve. Most often than not, teamwork is extremely crucial for service projects because these projects are iterative and require lots of creativity. They require people with different skills and ideas to come together for a common cause to help the disabled community. This experience inspired and led me to pursue research in biomechanics as I see the most challenging and intriguing problems lying in applications related to the disabled community. I seek to study biomechanics and robotics for my grand challenge in restoring and improving urban infrastructure in my graduate studies with hopes that the results of my research will help more individuals in this community.  

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For our work on this project, my team and I were recently recognized for the 2018 Project of the Year award given by IMAGE-VME. 

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Learning Objectives:

• Perspectivism

• Realistic Vision

• Being a team member

• Community Engagement

• Civic Agency

• Capacity for Reflection

• Capacity for Social Analysis