December Update

Project Description Update
The month of December was both the most wonderful time of the year and most hectic. The primary focus for December was to finalize the CAD design for EMARA and began programming the graphical user interface, the app that will connect EMS workers to the ER. The team was able to widen community outreach by presenting to Ask Academy’s board and getting in contact with a professor from the University of New Mexico. Although the design process has been slower than expected the results have proven to be worth the wait! In the month of January, the team is looking forward to 3D printing prototypes, reverse engineering sensors, programming simulations, and creating the silicone mold to test EMARA. 

Quote
“There is no growth without conflict and struggle”
Sean Hurley, Team Manager

Progress

CAD
The basic foundation of EMARA has been designed. The arm mount where the Arduino board will lay and the straps that will attach the device around the patient's arm are ready to be 3D printed. The main concern the team is facing with the arm mount is that the Arduino board might be too big for some people’s wrist. Additionally, Rodney and James will be working to reverse engineer the sensors that will be used for the hand. Until that is finished they will have to wait to complete the hand part of the CAD design.

3D Printing
The team will begin 3D printing the Arduino board and straps that attach the device around the patient's arm in January. The team hopes to begin printing the other components of the arm in late January early February after the sensors have been reversed engineered.  

Programming
James worked on the graphic user interface to talk to several different other programs besides itself. He also was able to fix a lot of bugs that the programs was encountering in November. 

Dummy Setup
The team has ordered a mannequin and bought the supplies to make a silicone arm. The mannequin and silicone arm will serve as tools for testing prototypes. The team's hope to receive the mannequin by the end of the month and create the silicone arm by the end of February. Rodney and Haely will be in charge of making the silicone arm. 

Community Outreach
Alex has started to reach out to all of the team’s mentors for the mid grant technical review. So far, those who will be in attendance are the manager of the Rio Rancho Hanger Clinic, Gabrielle Brodehl, lead prosthetist from Hanger Clinic, Ahmahn Peeples, Ask Academy’s administrators (Naydene Shimada, Daniel Barbour, Daniel Busse, Paul Stephenson), and Brigadier General Meira.. Additionally, the team has widened community outreach by getting in contact with military personnel working on similar research. Currently, he is waiting to get approved by the government to start working with the team. Lastly, the team is planning on working with Christina Salas an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico in the Department of Orthopaedics and Mechanical Engineering.