Updates from Last Presentation –  by Hakim

Based on the presentation last week, we made a few updates to our project. We decided to eliminate platelet viability test because Dr. Walker reminded us that we don’t have the authority to carry out such testing. If needed, this testing would be done by the hospital. Dr. Walker also suggested us to use OCR instead of RGB as the scanner to identify types of blood bag because RGB would need color code manual attachment whereas OCR can use the existing bar code on the blood bag.

There are also some suggestions from our peer team (The Parathyroid Perfusion Detection Team) that we might consider in our design. They recommend us to only modify the existing cooler lid instead of the whole cooler. We planned to use cylinder shape cooler to replace the original square shape cooler, which makes this suggestion unfeasible because we will incorporate a rotary sorting system that is more suitable to a cylinder shape cooler. Then, they suggested a delivery system to deliver the blood bags safely to the bottom such as using slides. We might need to check this fact again with our client because as far as we concern, people normally just throw the bags into the cooler without affecting the viability of the blood products.

They also suggested to develop counting system by using pressure sensor to automatically count the number of bags inserted in the cooler. Also, they recommended us to develop databases to record information right after the barcode is scanned which might be useful but at this moment, our main focus is to develop the scanning and sorting mechanism first. As for the temperature regulatory system, they suggested us to install cooling fluids instead of using ice pack. We will take this into consideration. However, ice pack is relatively cheaper and been used widely in the hospital,

We tried to meet our client, Dr. Booth this week but he was out of town. We were planning to meet him to get some ideas about the items needed to build the prototype that will be ordered next week. We will schedule another meeting this coming week.

Our Ongoing Plan – by Aireen

Prior to building our prototype, we decided to divide our design plan into two stages. First stage is to develop the scanning and sorting system. We want to make sure that the process runs smoothly and precisely before we start developing our second stage of the design which is the temperature regulatory system.

At this point, we are done with the preliminary research for our first stage. We had identified the main components of our system and will start building the prototype shortly after we receive our components. Our release mechanism that allow our cooler to properly store our blood products bags right after they are scanned is inspired by the baby formula dispenser. Below is the image of the formula dispenser that helps us in designing our cooler. Our goal is to keep three of our compartments remained close all the time to maintain its inner temperature. Hence, this kind of rotating lid can help us to achieve our goal. However, we need to make some modification to the top of the lid so that we can mount our sensors and motors.

Baby formula dispenser http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51UKsMIBmzL._SY300_.jpg

Main Components and Materials – by Zulhilmi

1. Microcontroller x1 – Arduino Uno (radio shack)

The Arduino Uno will be used to receive and process the data from the scanner and send the signal to the servo motor to execute action.

link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12268262

1. Standard servo motors x1 (radio shack)

Standard servo motor can be controlled using the Arduino Uno, and it has a fixed rotation range.

link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=22472146

1. Continuous rotation servo motors x1 (radio shack)

Continuous rotation servo motors can also be controlled using the Arduino Uno, and it has continuous rotation range.

link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12798725

1. RGB sensor x1 (radio shack)

The RGB sensor can be used to differentiate color labels on the blood products.

link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/380746232620?lpid=82

1. Optical character recognition scanner (radio shack)

The OCR sensor can be used to differentiate the bar code on the blood products.

link: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=28644656

1. Plexiglass (Olin hall)

The plexiglass can be cut using a laser cutter to get the specific sizes for parts. It would be a good prototype material as it can act as a display and a decent insulator.

1. Polystyrene

This is a great material for our inner divider that will be placed inside of our cooler. It is a great insulator, lightweight, cheap and easy to work with.

1. 3D-printer (design studio)

The 3D printer is used to form small and articulate components for the cooler.