SATISFACTION LIES IN THE EFFORT, NOT IN THE ATTAINMENT - Mahatma Gandhi
The week began with a group meeting to discuss what we would be working on throughout the week and what we should prioritize for the presentations the following day. The IOT portion of the Neonatal Monitor Project, the setup of the Vein Finder infrared lights, the casings of the Laparoscopic Training Kit (ABS material using the Laser Cutter), Vein Finder, and Neonatal Monitor, were the primary tasks on this day. But the type of Arduino we were using, which made it challenging to configure the arduino-based application created for the Neonatal monitor project, was the issue with the IOT component of the Neonatal monitor. Due to the laser cutter's inability to make quality casings, we also had trouble making the casings for each of our three projects.
We began working on the perforated board of the Neonatal monitor on Tuesday in the morning, but we ran into issues with the analogue signals fluctuating because of the intricate wiring we put on the perforated board. Additionally, we worked on the Laparoscopic Training Kit's shell, but that wasn't a success because the ABS material was fully uncuttable by the laser cutter. Later, we worked on scripting the laparoscopic training kit's autostart to start recording videos when a startup button is pressed. Before Miss Will Moyo, Mr. Hillary Lodzanyama, and our TAs, we had a group presentation in the afternoon.
We divided up the PCB design work on Wednesday, and I was assigned to work on the design of the power system and the board that connects the Raspberry Pi to the DLP projector. We also designed a vein finder and a neonatal monitor, which we then tried to print, but the 3D printer was not helping us out either because it kept messing up the design as it was being printed. Later, the vein finder design—while still having some flaws—was the one that was entirely manufactured on the 3D printer.
We were able to complete the PCB designs for all three projects on Thursday. All that was left to do was use the Voltera to print the boards, but nobody was available that day who knew how to operate it. As a result, we continued seeking information online by visiting the Voltera official website, and we were able to understand about 60% of the device's functionality. However, we were unable to begin printing because there were no inks available for printing. The Design Studio personnel assisted in completing the IOT portion of the Neonatal Monitor as well as the other components of the Laparoscopic training kit.
When we tried to get in touch with Mtitimila, a Rice intern from the year before, on Friday morning for assistance printing the PCB on the Voltera, he just gave us instructions on how to print when the inks are ready. Then we tried putting the laparoscopic training kit's and the vein finder's casing pieces together, but we were unable to do so for the vein finder because the size of the casing and the components that needed to fit inside were completely different. We had a group presentation in the afternoon in front of Miss. Will Moyo, TAs, and other biomedical interns from Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST). The key recommendation was to improve our presentation and to complete all three of our projects by the following Wednesday.
As a result, this week I have really appreciated the sense of collaboration that our group shown. We all understood that whatever we do is for the sake of the group, and we were all committed to our job to the point of staying up all night doing it.