Week 4 - Pressure Map and Feet Paint

In order to create a piezoelectric shoe, we needed to determine where the most pressure is applied while walking. This pressure map would be the input of our device, and determine the most optimal location to place the piezo crystals. Along with research, we conducted a short experiment to create a pressure map. We put a thin layer of red paint on a piece of card board, stepped on it, and then walked across a transparent plastic film. Thus, areas of low pressure left paint on the film, and areas of very high pressure would displace the paint to areas of less pressure. Two members of the group performed the experiment, taking 5 steps.

Figure 1: Results of first trial of feet pressure map experiment

This is the result after the first trial. As a result, the most optimal positions for the piezo crystals has been graphically determined.

Week 3 - Noobs go online

For our outside class activity, we ordered fifteen sets of piezoelectric disc plates which were our major component in the generating the electrical energy. we decided to order this number of piezoelectric discs because the voltage or current produced by just one piezoelectric plate is not enough to recharge our targeted source which is supposed to have a voltage of 3V minimum. the piezoelectric plates are scheduled for arrival on Tuesday 4/25/2017.
In addition to ordering the piezoelectric disc plates, we also researched on the various components to include in the circuit and also found some suitable ways in which the capacitors used in the circuit can be used to recharge the secondary battery.

Week 3 - Engineers roll up their sleeves.

Week 3 was when we actually started working on the proposed project. We are a group of 4, and decided to pair up so that one group could work on the 3-D Creo design, while the other group could start researching about the electrical design. Daniel and Felix started to work on Creo, they already had the measurements taken from the previous week at the dorm. Some parts of the design will include 3-D printing, so it was easier to use Creo because we all learnt how to use this software in fall term. In the meanwhile, Shaumik and Kimtee toured the laboratory to find electrical tools they could use to design the circuit, also as a way to minimize costs of ordering the devices. The could find diodes, resistors, breadboards, wires, batteries and switches. Since the group did not order the main device to generate energy yet, we designed our first, most basic circuit with batteries as power supply. The circuit was functional and we intend to electrical design upon this basis itself. At the end of lab, we had the electrical and mechanical design both started.

The "Shoe" idea

During the first two weeks of this spring term, we brainstormed on how we can assist human with their daily activities. All of us being Biomedical Engineering majors, we started through ideas that were more inclined toward medical assisted devices and our initial ideas were:

A Matlab based disease tracker,

Device to aid blind people, using ultrasound,

Glasses for color blindness,

Bioprocess simulator for research testing, to decrease animal testing,

Conversion of body heat to electrical energy.

However, most of the ideas required lot of expertise and because of the time constraint too, we came up with a simpler and doable idea in 10 (or 8) weeks. 

The idea is as follows: 

We were discussing about ways of converting mechanical energy to electrical energy, and came up with the idea of using springs and piston in a shoe sole to convert the compression or pressure generated when a person walks, to electrical energy using a transducer. With some further research, we came across the piezoelectric transducer mechanism that we can use to convert the pressure exerted on the crystals to electrical signals. We then started brainstorming about the ways through which we can use that energy to help people. The first idea was to connect a USB port to the shoe so that the user can charge their medical devices like cochlear ear implant, Fitbits, blood sugar monitor, watches and phones during emergency circumstances. However, the main constraint here was that all these devices use different kinds of batteries. We then settled for the idea of storing the charges created to charge a specific type of battery that the person can use in different ways later. One of the rechargeable batteries considered was the NiMH battery that is also compatible with NiCD batteries. This is how we came up with the "Shoe Charger" idea. 

We believe that this project is a realistic project to complete with team work within the time limit. 

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