GRiP Prosthetic Arm Piece
Feb. 2018 - May 2018
Project Description
This project entailed redesigning a prosthetic arm piece for a child living in Jacksonville with a club known as GRiP (General Relief in Prosthetics). The previous members working on the project realized that their design was too big for the child’s arm, so our team (six members in total) was tasked with redesigning and rescaling the arm piece.
Personal Contribution to Project
I collaborated with other UF GRiP members to redesign and rescale the arm, researched and executed actions on Blender to accurately rescale the prosthetic piece onto the child’s arm, and I communicated with other group members and the club president to discuss issues and evaluate a plan of action to strive for an optimal design.
Shortcomings & Lessons Learned
Unfortunately, the project never came to fruition. The project proved much more difficult than originally anticipated due to fundamental flaws in the original design, and three team members had to leave due to other responsibilities. We managed to 3D print the arm piece by the end of the semester, but it came out too small. When we tried regrouping the following semester to continue, one of the three remaining members went on a Co-Op and the person responsible for providing us with updated dimensions for the child's arm had other responsibilities to attend to. At this point, the project could no longer continue.
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Through this first-time experience with project design, I realized how essential a reliable team is for project completion. All projects require dedicated team members who must be willing to sacrifice time for the sake of completing an assignment. If even one member begins to underperform, the whole project will suffer to a certain extent. Keeping team members accountable and aware of their responsibilities will better promote project completion.
Overall Experience & Skills Attained
This project was a learning experience, teaching me the value and necessity of teamwork when it comes to projects and problem solving. Through this project, I gained exposure to Blender and improved upon my communication skills. Moving forwards, I plan to keep team members accountable for the responsibilities they have taken up and ensure that I hold up my end of the work as well.