Plastic+Bottle+Prosthetics+Comments+Page

Plastic Bottle Prosthetics Open Source Prosthetic | How It Works | About | Design Process | Molding The Attachment | Team | Leave Your Feedback | Resources and Links

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I'm impressed with what you guys accomplished, how you presented it, and how you engaged in the design/change process. Some notes below: When you first go to the first website, it can seem that this is all there is… just two pictures and not much text. It may be a good idea to direct people to the links at top. In the “how it works” part, I think a schematic would be helpful.
 * Pete**:

Pete- a) I really like how you've set up your webpage. it looks very professional b) I think that you should have some caption below each picture and video indicating where it comes from. In particular, I can tell which one are from you guys because I know you. However, to the person surfing from the outside, it's not clear what you've done and what you've taken from other people. c) Please add a conclusion about where you see things going and an updated decision matrix associated with new directions. d) I think that the spring steel got a low rating on your matrix... but this was only the spring steel that you tried, or is it spring steel in general? Are you no longer considering this idea, or have you ruled it out? I think that this is worth a sentence or two. e) For your team bios, maybe you could change this to "TEAM", and add to the page a statement about what it was like working together.

Pete - a) You mention and show pictures of "the tentacle". How did the tentacle work? What was the mechanism? Where is this being used? Could you provide a drawing that shows the inside mechanics? We have added this! b) Your videos are great... thanks. However, they are of a black tube against a black background. More contrast would be an improvement. c) Explain how your tentacle works... again, a diagram showing the inside mechanism would be great.

Your prototype made yesterday looked like it was working well when you were picking up the tupperware containers. Looks effective, well done. -Kevin K

It may not be so essential to take the exact shape of the person's arm to make a mold. An alternative could be to come up with a universal "nub" that can attach to the person, and have the plastic shrunk onto that? -David H.

Consider moving your bottle forming methods pictures up near the related decision matrices.

Your tables are formatted strangely; too large. Sheila Good idea, thanks!

A description of what you learned or found interesting from your creations/trials would be great to understand where you are moving with this idea. I like that you incorporated the "useful links" at the bottom for further reading. -Audrey

Rubber tire inner tubes for large trucks have been used in some appropriate technology products as a locally available material. Perhaps a rubber gasket, possible with ventilation holes, could be used a sleeve on the limb such that the bottles might not need to fit as exactly and tightly making shrinking them around a general mold (not one formed specifically for the limb it will be attached to) a possibility. Multiple layers of rubber could also be added to strengthen the fit and to fill open space left by the shrunken bottle and the limp. Interesting, I think we're going to investigate bike tubes vs. cloth for fit and durability - thanks for the suggestion.

Perhaps multiple layers of plastic bottles would add strength and durability?

Its difficult to imagine that a plastic bottle provides the strength of a standard prosthetic.Some proof of this would be nice! Great pictures and matrices! - Shauna

I like the before and after matrices but like Sheila said, you should reformat them to make them fit! -Pearce

This project is definitely going in the right direction every time I hear more about it. I feel like the biggest challenge will come from durability. The mold will have to be a firm fit to the nub. - //Oren//

I love the idea and think that plastic bottles is an interesting way to go. My main thought, similar to your skill/training metric, is that it should be as simple to make with the fewest parts possible. I thought the tentacle design was pretty weird, but there seems to be many more parts than other designs, which might make it more difficult. - //Nichol-B//