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Faculty advisor(s): Dr. James Kiper (CSE)

Undergraduate Researcher(s): N/A

Graduate Researcher(s): Ms. Mrittika Raychoudhury

Project description: Falls are a major health risk for older adults and patients, as they diminish the quality of life and are a major cause of pain, disability, loss of independence, and premature death. Older adults tend to use different types of glasses for different activities (e.g., near vision glasses for reading, distance glasses for walking). Forgetting to change near vision glasses into distance glasses when switching to a different activity, or vice-versa, is a major cause of falls. We plan to address this problem by detecting when a user switches to a new activity and alerting them to change glasses when a relevant activity transition takes place. We plan to use inertial sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes) to capture user movement data, to determine what activities users are engaged in, and to alert them when switching glasses is necessary.

Project goals:

• Develop a head-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU) based system for detecting Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
• Recognize at least 10 ADLs through multiple supervised and unsupervised algorithms
• Detect relevant activity transitions and alert user
• Receive feedback and improve the system

Funding Source: N/A

Work Produced: MS thesis

Faculty advisor(s): Dr. Mark Walsh (KNH) (Assisting Dr. Jessica Sparks with this project)

Undergraduate Researcher(s): Currently Paul Filonowich (Rotates through seniors who take this on as their senior project)

Graduate Researcher(s): Tess McGuire

Project description: We have created a dog model in our motion capture software. We attach reflective markers to joint landmarks on a dog (Dollie) and have her walk through our calibrated space where her motion is captured by 9 infrared cameras. Our motion capture software allows us to create an avatar of Dollie so we can see all of the displacements and velocities of the markers and the angles of Dollie’s joints.

Project goals:

• To learn enough about dog gait to allow us to make a prosthetic device to assist a dog who is missing a leg.

Funding Source: None

Work Produced: Senior project, possibly undergraduate research symposium

Faculty advisor: Dr. Mark Sidebottom (MME)

Team Members: Minh Duc Hoang, Summer Libecap, Ayushya Saraswat, & Andrew Schlichter

Project description: To design a modification to a wheelchair to assist a wide-range of individuals, such as those with visual impairments and cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer's disease, that provides assistance and protection to a user's arms as they travel through doorways or other tight space areas.

Project goals:

• To develop an alert system to notify the user and the caretaker about an incoming tight space when they are about 1-meter far from the tight space
• To develop a self-propelling system for the individuals who are able to propel without any help, to go through tight spaces with just using the lever arm

Faculty advisor: Dr. Yingbin Hu (MME)

Team Members: Bennett Eagle, Allison Hoellrich, Conor Moore, & Sterling Weatherford

Project description: Design a lacrosse glove for a customer who has only a single finger and no hand on one of his arms as a result of a birth defect.

Project goals:

• Design a specialized lacrosse glove to allow the customer to manipulate a lacrosse stick at the same level as a full-abled lacrosse player

Faculty advisor: Dr. Edgar Caraballo (MME)

Team Members: Nadia Elayan, Carmella Bate, Ryan Stevens, & Wen Yang

Project description: Our design team, COVID-2, has designed a hand thermometer scanner to be used at the entrance of elementary schools across the nation in order to slow down the spread of Covid-19. The use of the thermal body temperature is one the quickest ways to notice a possible infected person, both Covid-19 and other infectious diseases. This is a solution that is both safe and easy for the use of elementary kids to be used everywhere.

Project goals:

• To create a prototype of a hand thermometer
• To test the prototype at Oxford's Kramer Elementary School
• To use results from preliminary experimental testing to improve and develop a final design for elementary schools across the nation to help slow down the spread of Covid-19

Faculty advisor: Dr. Giancarlo Luigi Corti Calderon (MME)

Team Members: Claire Berry, McClain Brown, Alyssa Stavros, & Ziqi Zhao

Project description: The development of a mask that is designed which helps stop the spread of Covid-19. This design is intended to help the spread of Covid-19 by adding an extra layer of protection from germs while one is drinking. This mask is intended to be worn with the hole closed until one is drinking. The hole can then be opened while drinking is occurring, creating only a small opening to reduce the amount of germs passing through during the drinking process.

Project goals:

• To ensure the mask performs effectively when being used during common activities
• To minimize the amount of germs passing through during the drinking process
• To provide ease of use and comfort for the user

Faculty advisor: Dr. James Chagdes (MME)

Team Members: Javier Fernandez, Tom Linnemann, Cristian Moreno, & Abed a Mousa

Project description: Balance boards are commonly used to improve balance if individuals with underlying balance problems. This project aims to develop a robotic balance device that assess fall-risk and rehabilitates balance by manipulating the sensory feedback of the patient.

Project goals:

• To develop a robotic balance board capable of manipulating proprioceptive, vestibular, and visual feedback during human balance
• To minimize the size and cost of the rehabilitative system
• To ensure safety of patients using this equipment

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Amit Shukla (MME)

Undergraduate Researchers: Paige Derwenskus, Laura Mayer, Kevin Pritchett, Clark Reinfranck, & Sarah Seatter

Project Description: The production of an accurate blood pressure waveform for three different age groups (young, middle aged, old) using an Arduino microcontroller and Code generated by Spyder (an offshoot of Python). This code and controller system will be connected to a compressor and solenoid valve module which will simulate the pumping of blood through a synthetic arm with synthetic arteries. The arteries will be fabricated by the team using an elastomer and they will be designed based on the result of copious elastomer testing.

Project Goals:

• To develop an accurate representation of blood pressure waveform for three aforementioned age groups
• The fabrication of synthetic arteries
• The measurement values from blood pressure cuff attached to synthetic arm
• The development of a non-invasive way to calibrate and measure blood pressure

Faculty advisor(s): Dr. Micheal Bailey-Van Kuren (EBTD)

Team Members: Wendy Poe, Rose Mauch, Jose-Jonathan Arthur

Project description: We are adapting the software and AI technology within smart speakers, like google home, so that they may be more accessible to people who use sign language, especially the Deaf Community. The product will most likely be a software extension that can use sign language recognition in a similar way that it already uses voice recognition, and output text to the screen while it executes commands. We are dedicated to being respectful of the Deaf community, and our business and marketing plan will be considering their culture, frustrations, and how they receive information about new products.

Project goals:

• Develop a software extension that can utilize sign language input for smart speakers through image recognition.
• Effective communication between smart speakers and members Deaf community.
• Change smart speaker output to on-screen text.

Faculty advisor(s): Surya Prakash Pandeya (MME)

Team Members: Steve McPherson, Sarah Herbruck, Rob Ross-Shannon, John Fernandez, Gabe Lenneman, Robby Weideling

Project description: Our project revolved around the idea of increasing the amount of aerobic exercise that elderly individuals who utilize walkers can achieve. The design is based upon a gear operated walker in which resistance can be modified to meet exercise demands. Through simulation based modeling and 3D printing of gear parts, we hope to develop an operational walker by late April.

Project goals:

• Develop a simulation-based model using Autoworks outlining our design
• tilize 3D printing machinery to print gear prototypes for our walker
• Incorporate balance and movement studies to improve walker design

Faculty advisor(s): Dr. Jim Leonard (ECE)

Team Members: Dhruv Birla, Timmy Boush, Josiah Putrich, Sakshi Shah

Project description: We are developing a smartphone app that uses an audio-enabled labeling system for people with visual impairment to independently identify stored food. Users will be able to scan physical labels and then deliver an audio clip previously recorded and stored by the user. This technology will assist in-home living for people with visual impairment by helping them reduce food waste and identify available food without outside assistance.

Project goals:

• Implement an efficient labeling system for food containers that is easy to use for people with all degrees of visual impairment
• Develop a smartphone app capable of scanning stickers and relaying the desired information to the user
• Provide an affordable and accessible way for people with visual impairment to be more independent

Faculty advisor(s): Dr. John Femiani (CEC)

Team Members: Alex Kernell, Colin Sellers, & Pete Cole

Project description: We are designing a product that will automatically dispense the correct prescription at the right time for the elderly and patients with dementia. The idea is that when the patient wakes up in the morning, the first thing they will do is go to the restroom, walk up to the mirror and the mirror will tell them which pills that they will be taking and at what time they will be dispensed.

Project goals:

• Automate the dispensing of pills to remove the need of them being given out by a caretaker
• Alerting the patient, caretakers, and physicians when a prescription is running low and when a new prescription needs to be picked up by
• Sleek design, should look normal in the bathroom setting

Faculty advisor(s): Dr. Garrett Goodman (CSE)

Team Members: Brandon Hall, Asia Flores, Luke Carter, Rishi Narahari, Max Lanum

Project description: The goal of this project is to create a system of one or more cameras, in conjunction with AI and mobile computing, to help prevent injury during home workouts. We plan to have a mobile application working on Android to begin with, but can be expanded to iPhone, which can be setup to record an exercise. This recording will calculate angles of joints and movement to determine if the user’s exercise is following good form. If not, a notification will be given to alert the user that a potential injury could occur due to their exercise form.

Project goals:

• Reduce injuries due to bad form
• Improve accessibility of personal training
• Help people get fit

Team: 

• Amit Shukla (Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering)
• Jennifer Kinney (Sociology & Gerontology)
• Robert Applebaum (Sociology & Gerontology)
• Carol Bashford (Nursing)
• Mert Bal (Engineering Technology)
• Greg Reese (Research Computing Support Group)

The population in Ohio and everywhere continues to grow older and many challenges remain which require low cost, efficient solutions which are deeply rooted in engineering design and use available technology. This project is to address the challenges associated with predicting risk of falls in older adults. Thus reducing health care cost and improving quality of life for older adults. Using clinical studies as well as simulation tools, this research seeks to identify markers for predicting falls during activities of daily living.

Team:

Nonlinear dynamics is exhibited by electro-mechanical-structural systems under certain operating conditions. This nonlinear phenomenon, for harmonically excited systems, may include emergence of sub- harmonic and/or super harmonic response. Linear analysis tools inherently fail to capture the nonlinear phenomena in the design stage and hence are of little value when utilized for prediction of nonlinear dynamics of interest and the associated parametric analysis for trade-off studies. Many sources of nonlinearities are inherent in the ultrasonic cutting tool which include geometric, material, piezoelectric nonlinearities. This research is to investigate a design of controller for operating these cutting tools.

Team:

Team:

• Amit Shukla (Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering)
• R.H.B. Fey (Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

Energy harvesting for cardiac pacemakers would enable technology to eliminate repeated battery removal and replacement in patients. This project seeks to identify and exploit nonlinear sub harmonic resonance associated with nonlinear oscillators to design and develop energy harvesters with tunable frequency response characteristics. The ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs from ºÚÁÏÉçÇø and Technical University of Eindhoven are collaboratively working on this project.

Team:

Team:

Team: 

James Chagdes

Student Team (Spring 2019): David Muskal, Alkiyar Kenes, Allison Maginot, Yingqui Zhang

Through the use of a non-human analogue, human balance may be studied without the risks and costs associated with the use of human test subjects.One of the main goals of this robot would be to capture the differences in its center of pressure (CoP) by measuring its fluctuations about its upright equilibrium. Because of this, our device would act as an inverted pendulum in order to measure the change in stability. In addition, the robot would contain a ball and socket to imitate a human’s knee and hip joints so that tests and measurements may be more accurate. The research that may be done using this robot to will allow a better understanding of mechanisms in stability. This device would be able to benefit people with balance disorders and elderly people because of its potential to successfully contribute to postural stability research. Furthering research to better understand an upright stance will allow people who suffer from neuromuscular disorders (such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis) as well as the effects of old age to prevent injuries, reduce medical costs, and aid their overall well-being.

Advisor: Dr. James Chagdes

Student Team (Spring 2019): Asim Fauzi, Manh Nguyen

This research serves to develop a virtual application which lets victims undergo immersive virtual therapy sessions under the choice of supervision from AI, in-person therapists, or online therapists. To address the issues of accessibility, sufferers of PTSD will now be able to have their own therapy stations in their own homes or nearest medical center. Another goal is to cut down the cost of treatment by consolidating many therapy services into one building in which therapists can connect to requested therapy sessions online and manage the supervision and walkthrough remotely. This will still allow therapists to physically travel to therapy site locations, personal homes, or veteran affairs centers but now permits victims to acquire the needed treatment discreetly without the previously mentioned worries. By incorporating machine-learning based AI in conjunction with heart-rate responsive scripts (in future versions) to control & supervise sessions, it also provides service to those far from therapy services or those without internet as they can now use a sort of ‘auto-mode’. This application is not only more effective, but more accessible. By cutting down costs, increasing accessibility, and increasing effectiveness this will increase the amount of sufferers to finally seek the treatment they greatly need.

Team:

• James Chagdes (Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering)
• Amit Shukla (Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering)
• Joao Freire (Student, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering)

Recent mathematical models of human posture have been explored to better understand the space of control parameters that result in stable upright balance. These models have demonstrated that there are two types of instabilities – a leaning instability and an instability leading to excessive oscillation. While these models provide insight into the stability of upright bipedal stance, they are not sufficient for individuals that require the aid of assistive technologies, such as a passive-cane or a walker. Without a valid model one is unable to understand the control parameters required for maintain upright posture or if similar instabilities even exist when assistive technologies are used. Therefore, in this study, we developed a mathematical model of human posture while using a passive-cane to examine the nonlinear dynamics of stance. This study will enable design of a better cane for use in balance and gait.