Form Development

form development

With a knowledge of the form size and components contained within, I can now move forward developing the shape improving its aesthetic appeal and giving the actual pump and monitor some design value, features.

3d Print test

Today I performed a test print of the insulin pump. Due to the reality of the pump shell being injection moulded and how thin and compact the device was. I was concerned over thickness of the walls and how they could be replicated by 3d printing. Therefore a test print was necessary. Due to previous models being made out of  foam there were also sizing discrepancies so by moving forward with 3d prints I will have a far greater accuracy and reference to the real form.

Thinking About Pump Technologies

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I have been analysing different pump technologies and sterility for transporting the insulin. I have finally decided on the technology and best configuration available. I have been studying different piezoelectric pumps and contacting manufacturers. Using a cartridge based or standard piezoelectric pump in a cartridge form with the needle mounting element all in a disposable part enables the actual pump body to contain a far greater chamber for insulin as well as the battery and circuit board parts. I am now moving on developing the form of the pump thinking more about its appearance and interaction with a charging hub.

Decision and Pump function Discussion with David O’Leary

Pump mechanical function David O leary discussion

I had been trying to wrap my head around how to make the pump smaller in size. The ‘Omnipod’ is already very small but has limitations in chamber capacity and is disposable. The mechanical ‘lead screw pump system’ is highly compact but wastes space due to the mechanism and need for the same length of chamber in comparison to chamber length. Normal tube pumps function in a similar manner but are driven by a motor rather than a memory wire system therefore they are larger and heavier. I never truly believed a Pump system could be the right approach due to hygienic transfer and movement of the insulin but David convinced me to keep exploring further. We briefly discussed Colgate and their toothpaste pumps.. it would be a case of experiment and explore if it were possible to reengineer a mechanism and think about it functioning in an appropriate manner. I believed I was already reimagining the pump in an innovative manner by using the mechanical principle of the Omnipod but separating and rearranging the components positioning to be insulin and needle cartridge based. To reimagine the pump system inside the device would truly prove a forward driven innovative system.

We also discussed the monitoring device and the balance between a wearable and the pump all acting together as an artificial pancreas for option 5.

Thinking about User Journey -Interaction Process

wireframe ideas

Thinking about daily logging and interaction with the provision or monitor device. Developing wireframes considering app interaction and set up stages for the various devices as well as daily logging needs. The main data the app may require to consider for the diabetic is food logging, fitness, glucose level monitoring, pump/insulin provision levels, battery levels of devices, doctor communication.

 

Eric Lars Holmquist -Grounded Innovation: How Do We Invent The Future and How Do We Make it Useful?

Erik Lars Holmquist

I attended a lecture on Monday 19th February 2018 by Professor Eric Lars Holmquist (Professor of Innovation).

Professor Holmquist reflected on his past projects and talked about the best ways to produce useful research results. He presented the notion of “grounded innovation” as a strategy for creating new digital products.

The presentation began talking about the ‘Bubble Badge’ a concept he developed in 1998 that prototyped a wearable digital pin badge that was a digital screen. The user could control or program by an external device the information or picture they wished to display and then it could match their fashion sense or beliefs for however long they wished. Holmquist then went onto outline the ‘Drucker’s 5 principle steps of innovation’. 1) searching for opportunity 2) Analysis 3) Listen 4) Focus 5) Leadership. He talked about how the standard innovative product could take up to 20 years for a company to  take from concept to final product design and prove its viability in a market opportunity. A key example being touch screen actually invented n 1984 but only truly came into effect – reached the ‘slope of enlightenment’ by companies like Apple in the late 21st century.

He then reverted back to his ‘Bubble Badge’ concept and how in this current day on Kickstarter a similar product is receiving large levels of funding entitled ‘Pins Collective‘ .

The learning point here is that with time and the development of technology it takes innovative minds or the appropriate business approach for a concept to be viable. Its also about the right way to market. Something being designed to appear futuristic now or consider technology in a more compact fashion that could appear far away, could soon come into possibility in the near future with the development of manufacturing technologies. It is interesting how the pin and technology inside is very similar to that of the wearable laser scan device I am designing. Although not incorporating the laser scanning tech in the pin, my monitoring device could be very similar in size, just as compact and visual in appearance.

A very interesting lecture that motivates an innovative perspective for design.

Concept Exploration -Iteration 2

Concept Exploration

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