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tsung-wei-huang / cs3992

Computer Engineering Senior Pre-Thesis and Pre-Project
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Smart Helmet (Thesis Track): Reduce TBI Through Soft-Robotics #6

Open ColinPollard opened 3 years ago

ColinPollard commented 3 years ago

Hi everyone, The Smart Helmet project aims to reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury by building cutting-edge helmet technologies. We currently are in the later stages of integration testing, and are excited to begin testing of the newest sensor test suite.

Website

Project Objective: Use soft-robotic bladders and embedded systems to intelligently absorb impacts experienced in contact sports.

Market Impact: Many organizations profit from contact sports, and as more research shows that these engagements do long-term damage, it is in their best interest to invest in protecting their players. Our primary market would be organizations such as the NFL, PAC-12, etc.

Monetary Items: While the overall project requires extensive funding, my focus on the embedded system requires fewer items including:

Current Team Members

Joining The Project If you are especially interested in this work, feel free to contact Dr. Mark Minor at: mark.minor@utah.edu

linnebach08 commented 3 years ago

Comment from Group HealthyBois (Nathan Hummel, Michael Linnebach, Brady Smith):

Durrantula commented 3 years ago

Group 3 (Tristan Stotesbery, Spencer Durrant, Ben Van Hoose) This could help reduce the risk of traumatic brain injuries. Some challenges we see are making the bladders responsive enough. Another challenges could be electrical components themselvees breaking, as well as getting funding. Marketplace is any sports industry where any helmet is involved. Probably not, but really good for people who play football. Maybe offer a picture of the actual device or a model if there is one.

lrm77 commented 3 years ago

Comment from Group 5 (Luke, John, McKay, Benjamin): --Practical Use Preventing traumatic brain injury in any situation where a helmet would be used. --Challenges One of the main challenges will be the reaction time of inflating/deflating the bladders after an impact is sensed. --Marketplace This product could be marketed towards a large audience including contact sports, motorcyclists, construction workers, etc. --Purchase? Yes, head protection is extremely important. --Improvements? One improvement would be a way to clip on a face mask such as a welding shield to expand the products marketplace.

Huchimama commented 3 years ago

VectorU Scott Crowley, Aaron Tea Practical use is safety regarding head trauma. One of the challenges is durability, people often throw their helmets in frustration and it must withstand all kinds of weather conditions from freezing cold to extreme heat and water/sweat. We would buy this especially for our kids. A nice feature to add would be a test calibration before each use. We are very curious on how is turns out.

altonbill commented 3 years ago

Jacob Bills

-What is the practical use? Reducing the risk of traumatic brain injury in people

-What are the challenges we think of to implement this project? Getting the sensing system to react quickly Quantifying the benefit to the user

-What is the marketplace for this project? Pro-Sports

-Will we buy it? If the protection offered by this helmet is significantly greater than that of a traditional helmet I think many Pro-Sports organizations with money would probably use the product

-What to improve from an outsider's perspective? Nothing, would just need a working model to validate the protection claims

alexCharters commented 3 years ago

Comment from Group 6 Emmanuel Lotubai, Brandon Chen, Alex Charters:

What is the practical use? Protecting the head from traumatic brain injuries.

What are the challenges we think of to implement this project?

What is the marketplace for this project?

Will we buy it? If it's proven to be reliable and effective, then yes.

What to improve from an outsider's perspective?s Maybe use flex PCB for the board. Design the helmet for specific uses.

MrYo531 commented 3 years ago

What is the practical use? Helmet but better. New technology thats even more protective. NFL players. What are the challenges we think of to implement this project? Testing the product. How do you know how well the helmet protects someone. Volunteers? What is the marketplace for this project? Anyone in high combat sports, or just care about their safety. Will we buy it? I don't have that kinda money. My head is already pretty safe too. What to improve from an outsider's perspective? Everything seems pretty expensive. Any way to make this cheaper?

Interestle commented 3 years ago

Comment from Group 9 (Colton Watson, Seth Jackson, Phelan Hobbs):

What is the practical use? Any sport or activity that necessitates a helmet.

What are the challenges we think of to implement this project? Keeping everything neatly in place. Keeping everything robust enough for continued use. Accurately sensing everything. Rigid size constraints of the items.

What is the marketplace for this project? Any activity that could necessitate a helmet

Will we buy it? If I was an athlete or could properly use this project, yes.

What to improve from an outsider's perspective? Maybe explain how it could be expanded to other protective equipment.

Sam3077 commented 3 years ago

Comment from Group 1 (Benjamin Wadsworth, Dalton Clift, Sam Hirsch):

What is the practical use? Smart helmets that can intelligently distribute impact to better protect from injury. Could be very useful for sports at all levels, provided that athletes/organizations can afford it.

What are the challenges we think of to implement this project? You need to be very certain that it will be reliable. If this fails in operation, it could lead to severe brain damage. As you mentioned, position sensing seems to be a particular challenge. Also, your design must be extremely fast so that it can properly detect and protect from impacts. Does this device require a power source? If so, how do you keep it charged.

What is the marketplace for this project? The market is sports players or organizations. You could make bulk deals with high school, universities, or professional teams.

Will we buy it? I probably wouldn't unless the technology is rigorously tested and shown to be better than a traditional helmet.

What to improve from an outsider's perspective? It seems like you have a good bit of lab work already done, which is great. You may want to show precisely how it's better than traditional helmets and expand on the cost structure.

jason-zavala commented 3 years ago

What is the practical use? People who need to protect their heads. Bikers, Football players, Outdoor people. Even Climbers!

What are the challenges we think of to implement this project? I think testing will be an issue. How will you know if it failed? Just by bashing someone's head in?

What is the marketplace for this project? Any type of sport or activity the requires head protection. Climbing, biking, motorcycle, NFL,

Will we buy it? Definitely! Im always on the lookout for a good helmet for biking.

What to improve from an outsider's perspective? How much is all of this gonna cost? Might be pretty expensive.

ColinPollard commented 3 years ago

Comment feedback

HealthyBois: You guys are right on point about making sure the response times are fast enough, this is one of the most crucial parameters of the system. The MLA development is also difficult! As for working in the dark, the inside of the bladders are always dark, so this should be independent of lighting.

Group 3: Responsiveness of the bladders is a large concern that is an ongoing evaluation. Electrical durability is another area in which we hope to dedicate time and effort to, you guys are right on! As for the improvements, you should see the website has had a lot more information attached.

Group 5: For the moment, we have been using a standard football face shield, but this is a good expansion opportunity.

VectorU: Environmental conditions will be a perpetual concern for this project, especially large moisture content. Test calibrations are inherently part of the process for training the ML algorithms, but a comprehensive force analysis per helmet would be a great idea!

Jacob Bills: A working model is the goal, albeit a difficult one!

Group 6: Weight of the helmets is going to be a HUGE challenge, already football helmets are heavy enough without all of the added electronics. Robustness is also a big concern that will have to be improved over the years. Flex PCBs are an interesting idea, we have considered them for certain applications but further exploration could happen here.

Kidus: We actually have a practice play test planned for the summer, so yes! Cost will always be a barrier for this tech. Frankly, I don't see a huge commercial application outside of professional sports (yet).

Group 9: The control algorithm for this project is going to be a huge undertaking, so "sensing everything" is a valid concern. Expansion is something we will have to explore later on!

Group 1: You guys raised some great concerns. Battery storage and life will be a big challenge, and a large hurdle for people to want to use it. For the moment, we are thinking of mounting these on a vest or something similar. You bring up a great point that if the system fails, we could be hurting people. One way we try to mitigate this is by having a certain amount of padding such that even in a worst case scenario, it still is a moderately effective helmet.

Jason Zavala: Failure detection will be a challenge. One approach to this we have surmised is to utilize the onboard pressure sensors in the bladders to determine if a leak has occurred (check to see if the pressure spike is as high as expected or similar to other bladders nearby). This project will be prohibitively expensive for adoption to all but a few professional leagues.

BradySmith1019 commented 3 years ago

HealthyBois comment:

Is the prototype related to the project? Yes, the prototype is related to the project. It seems well-thought out and detailed. Is the prototype convincing to invest? If it is completed, it would certainly warrant investment.

YeZhou0226 commented 3 years ago

Is the prototype related to the project? Yes, it introduces the hardware draft for this project.

Is the prototype convincing to invest? Yes, it includes many details.

Durrantula commented 3 years ago

Group 3's response Is the prototype related? Yes, it allows interfacing with the actual sensors.

Is the prototype convincing to invest in? Yes, it is a fairly advanced prototype which shows good promise.

altonbill commented 3 years ago

Is the prototype related to the project?

Yes, having v1 hardware is a great start for a hardware-based project.

Is the prototype convincing for you to invest? Yes, if the early prototypes function this could create a compelling product.

Interestle commented 3 years ago

Comment from Group 9 (Colton Watson, Seth Jackson, Phelan Hobbs):

Is the prototype related to the project?

Yes, this prototype is relevant to the project, as it's one step in the project as a whole.

Is the prototype convincing for you to invest?

Yes. A lot of research has gone in this, and is looking promising.

bcwadsworth commented 3 years ago

Group 1 (Sam Hirsch, Dalton Clift, and Benjamin Wadsworth)

Is the prototype related to the project? Yes, it appears to be a logical step from what has been accomplished previously, and will show the development towards a working version.

Will we invest? Yes. This seems like a well researched start that could be very useful in a variety of real-world conditions.

bbleaptrot commented 3 years ago

Comments from Team 5 (Luke, Benjamin, John, Mckay): -Is this prototype related to the project?

We think? There is a lot of technical jargon and references to other parts of the site that are not quickly accessible.

-Is the prototype convincing us to buy?

No. The prototype does not explain or show how this will be integrated into the helmet--at least from the short search on the webpage.