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~ Our Tech Lab Project ~
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For our senior reseach laboratory, we (Jen Williams and Megan Hicks) chose to work together in the Automation and Robotics Lab to create an automated, milty-functional foot care system.
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Objectives
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Our objective of this project is to create a system that relieves stress by massaging, soaking, and scrubbing the users' feet. The system will cater to people's natural desire for comfort and relaxation by requiring minimal interaction between the system and the user.
People like to be pampered and want to indulge in spa-like activities without having to leave the comfort of their home and spend extensive amounts of money. They also would like to have the option of using a foot spa system at any time, for instance after having a stressful day at work. This system would provide inexpensive, convenient, stress-relieving luxury in one's own home.
With this project, we hope to cater to people and improve their lives and reduce their stress levels as much as possible, while learning more about automation and robotics.
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Original Plans
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The foot spa system will first consist of a foot basin filled with warm water. Inside the larger basin will be two foot-shaped basins with water jets for people to soak their feet in. Underneath the middle of the feet will be a massager that will knead the feet. Our foot care system will also be equipped with pumice stone scrubbers located under the heel and ball of each foot. The pumice stones will be attached to a gear and motor inside the system, so that the pumice stone will rub feet in a circular motion. Above the soaking area will be a 'drying platform' covered in soft, highly absorbent material. The drying platform will also have an oscillating fan that will blow heated air to the users' wet feet.
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Possible Problems
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Since time is a huge issue in this project, we had to limit the options that our foot spa can have. So that we don't run out of time customizing our project, we plan to research two things at a time (water jets and massagers, drying fans and pumice stone scrubbers, etc) and then build accordingly. We plan to communicate with companies and suppliers to get many of our supplies for the project, but if we have to buy supplies, money will also be a limitation. Waterproofing the system will also take a lot of time and effort, and may limit the number of options we add to the system.
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Background Information
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Pumice stones are small, lightweight, porous stones. Naturally produced by volcanoes and made up of balsamic minerals, pumice stones are "the perfect solution for safe removal of dry, dead skin on the feet." (1) Pumice stones are made of a blend of balsamic minerals, silicon, oxygen, magnesium and iron. The oxygen creates the porous surface of the pumice stone, allowing for the easy removal of dead skin. Between users, the pumice stone can be scrubbed with a manicure brush and then spritzed with any sanitizing spray for easy sanitation.
Water jets are primarily used in hot tubs, and in the clearance of debris and waste from a tube-like area. They are also used as a precision cutting tool in many technical instances. The water jets used in our project are the hydromassage jets used in hot tubs. These jets will be located in our soaking tub and have a "directional nozzle with a flow-enhancing design for maximum performance." (2) The water jets have been proven to effectively provide a soothing, pulsating massage that is strong but not harsh. The simple water jets in our design rely on the pressurization of water in order to force out warm water.
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Feasibility of the Project
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One of the early limitations on our projects was the fact that our group had very little outside knowledge to rely on, and there was a possibility that the project that we choose was going to prove to difficult for us to handle. However, we found more then enough solid information to rely on; by researching on the Internet, we found extensive amounts of outside knowledge. We expected no problem for us to navigate the World Wide Web to find even more research; we were able to locate important companies and information such as pumice stone and callous removers on the Miracle Products webpage1, and water jet and spa information on the Hot Springs webpage 2. We were also able to adequately use the online version of the Thomas Register to locate important companies and contacts and have already received information from one of them
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Facilities Used In Construction
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The facilities needed by our group were fairly simply and easily accessible within Thomas Jefferson High School. For example, we needed the supplies and power within the Robotics Lab when creating the electrical circuits for our system and when programming it. We also took advantage of the CAD Lab to design the layouts for out systems, and frequently visited the Prototyping Lab to use the laser cutter and supplies to actually create our robotic system. All three of these labs are easily accessible to us, giving us all the facilities we needed. We got our acryli supplies from US Plastics in Alexandria, VA.
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Materials
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Our greatest concern with the materials needed in our project was securing the water jet parts. We contacted a water jet company who we thought would be willing to donate parts to us to help our project along. Unfortunately this was not the case, so we bought a Conair foot spa to use for parts. After taking apart the original foot spa, we ended up using the main casing, the callous remover and massagers, and some of the electronics. Due to major time constraints, we decided to add only one additional platform, for massaging and callous removing. We also decided to create a remote control with which users could select one of four preset foot care sequences. (For example, one option users could select was heat, then bubbles, then water jets.) Luckily, the major parts that we had to construct were made out of acrylic, the most versatile and fairly inexpensive type of material. Plastic will not be hard to secure at all, making the material issue for our project very easy.
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Time
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Time turned out to be a serious problem in our project, as many of the various tasks became very complicated. After taking apart the foot spa and examining all of the electronics and parts, we divided up the work between the two members of the group. Megan focused more on electronics and programming, while Jen focused more on fabricating parts and assembling the foot spa.
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Project Timeline
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We disassembled the foot spa.
We unscrewed the outer shell of the foot spa.
We examined inner workings of foot spa to determine which parts control which aspects of the foot spa system.
We made a list of what modifications we need to make.
We will take the callous scrubbers off of the top of the main basin and move them to the massaging and pedicure platform. Currently, they are stationary, so we will need to hook them up to motors to make them rotate.
We are going to create a remote control for the user (in addition to the control buttons on the foot spa itself). We need to extend the wires for the remote control so that it will reach all the way up to the user for optimal convenience.
We will write a program that will give users various sequencing options to choose from with the remote control.
We will remove the massagers out of the bottom of the basin. We will then need to fabricate inserts to place in the holes in the bottom of the basin where the massagers will have been.
We may need to build a platform to place the center basin in, so that the main basin can be removed for easy filling and emptying of water. We will decide later whether or not this is necessary.
We will build an additional acrylic platform in which to place the rotating massagers and callous removers.
We began construction on our foot care system.
After taking precise measurements, we used the laser cutter to fabricate acrylic inserts for the bottom of the foot spa where the rolling massagers had been.
We extended the internal wires so that they can be used for the remote control.
Using Stamp, we programmed sequences of events from which the user can choose with the remote control and assembled the complete remote control.
We constructed an additional platform out of acrylic to be used for the massaging center.
We extended wires into a hole in the back of the second platform in order to supply power to the motor for the massager.
We assembled a pressure sensor on the second platform for a rotating massager.
We assembled everything to be a complete automated foot care system.
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