EPICS CED - Reflex
FALL 2019 ~ SPRING 2020 - The Reflex project is an interactive display designed to show the neural pathways involved in the knee-jerk reflex, and is now on display at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
As the team design lead in Spring 2020, I collaborated with two other teammates to design this display. During the semester, our accomplishments include completing the laser cut box enclosure for the electronics, completing the assembly of the final prototype, and creating detailed user manuals for the project.
Laser Cut Box
Individually, I was responsible for the CAD design and prototyping of the laser cut box plans. Our team came up with dimensions of the box, then I created the plans and annotations using AutoCAD. The design features engraved panel labels to ensure ease of assembly by both the community partner and any future Reflex teams.
Specification Verification
After assembly, we were able to test our product with real customers. We were able to meet middle-school-aged children to test if our knee-jerk reflex display can be understood by our target demographic, and we gained valuable feedback from the experience. It was rewarding to see that the response to our project was overwhelmingly positive, and motivated us to aim for delivery by the end of the semester.
The COVID-19 Pandemic
However, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic unfortunately put a stop in our delivery plans. As all classes became remote and our teammates each went home, we quickly switched gears to focus on documentation in order to continue progress on the project. We put together a user manual document with a troubleshooting and maintenance guide for our community partners in the remainder of the semester, and both our community partner contact and design reviewers really appreciated our idea to draft the document.
The Reflex project has since been delivered by the Fall 2021 Reflex team, and is now on display in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis!