The ULTRA Spine
Natural disasters affect hundreds of thousands of people each year. We commonly fail to notice that the aftermath is devastating as the event itself. Yet, first responders and rescue workers lack the supplies, resources, and manpower required to provide adequate support. And while the rate of natural disasters has been increasing drastically over the past few decades, technology in the field has stagnated. That is why we are developing a flexible, adaptable robotic service to support and assist first responders in disaster relief efforts.
BEST Lab, UC Berkeley Graduate Research
The Process
The ULTRA (Underactuated Lightweight Tensegrity Robot Assistive) Spine is a quadruped robot composed of a tensegrity-structured spine. As a team, we've conducted the human-centered design process to determine the best application for the device and the corresponding needs. Along with extensive design research, my objective has been to ideate and prototype in order to improve upon the previous design and fulfill customer needs.
Stakeholder Interviews
As part of a team, I've conducted numerous interviews and observations with potential users, such as firemen and EMT, identifying competitive products and user needs. Images of tools used by firemen are displayed to the right.
Research Analysis & User Needs
After analyzing our research to determine a specific market application of the technology, we constructed artificial personas and journey maps based on the information we gathered in order to map out top user needs.
Concept Generation
We held several brainstorming sessions and alternative concept generation methods to develop numerous concepts addressing customer needs. Alongside those efforts, I have been generating new spine designs in order to develop our technology such that it meets design requirements (my sketches shown to the right).
Prototyping
After several low-fidelity prototypes, a teammate and I have been implementing rapid prototyping techniques to build and test various tensegrity spine designs. The process has taught me the value of trial and error, as some of our most creative concepts arose during prototyping rather concept generation.
Spine Testing
In order to select a tensegrity-structured spine that best meets design requirements, we've assembled a set of tests and corresponding criteria to evaluate and compare performance. Our most complex challenge has involved the counteracting nature of characteristics (e.g. flexibility and stability), and thus understanding how to optimize and balance those needs in our designs.
Final Prototype
In order to illustrate our product concept most vividly, I've constructed a high fidelity prototype. The prototype is composed of a tensegrity spine, legs, a bed/carriage, a flashlight, and an infrared camera - each addressing customer needs we've established.
Video
Winner of Fung Institute Mission Award
Our team won UC Berkeley's Fung Institute Mission Award for being the most exemplary capstone team and aligning with the institute's goal of being leaders who take risks and develop technical, social and economic innovations.