Assistive Tray Attachment or A.T.A

For my friend Nathan may you always have a solution
Background
In a spontaneous dinner with Nathan, a new friend, I introduced Let's Innovate my club and asked if he had any suggestions for projects. Nathan shared that, due to a degenerative disorder he requires a posture walker(a walker that is dragged behind the user), and thus couldn't independently access food in the dining hall. Sensing an opportunity to help, I asked if there was anything we could do. Politely, Nathan inquired if Let's Innovate could assist.

Thus, Let's Innovate gained its first client.
My Contributions
As the Founder and President, I took on the roles of Project Manager and Lead Engineer for this project. This allowed me to effectively guide the team, ensuring that we met all deadlines, managed client expectations, and guaranteed that the design of A.T.A would be both functional and aesthetically pleasing to the user. Additionally, I coordinated the timely ordering of all materials and maintained clear communication with Merrimack College Administration.
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However, Let's Innovate serves as a space for students to learn. Consequently, it was the boards and I's  responsibility to teach our team members throughout the entire process.

The Brainstorm

The team divided into three groups of five to optimize efficiency during our short, three-month semester timeline. Given the task by Nathan to create a tray capable of holding a plate, bowl, and utensils, each group faced the challenge of balancing creativity with feasibility. As the Lead Engineer, my role involved listening to everyone's ideas, providing constructive criticism, and ensuring the overall practicality of our concepts.

However, to navigate the fine line between maintaining the creative process and addressing potential issues, I employed a leadership approach focused on intent. By asking strategic questions, I guided the team to identify weaknesses in their designs, allowing for course self-corrections without stifling creativity. Ultimately, the decision-making authority rested with our client, my boss.

It's noteworthy that before moving to prototyping, we streamlined our concepts from three to two, aiming to enhance productivity.
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Members work hard on two different concepts
to eventually present to Nathan(our client).

                               Some Light Prototyping


As time dwindled, our team pressed forward, crafting 3D-printed and cardboard prototypes for the client presentation. The first concept featured a collapsible tray with a fanning motion, reminiscent of a traditional Chinese fan. This design aimed for a small, compact tray suitable for carrying in a backpack or basket throughout the day. However, its reliance on numerous moving parts and fine motor skills raised concerns about the client's capabilities.

On the other hand, the second design focused on the exclusive use of the tray in a dining hall, eliminating the need for the Assistive Technology (A.T.A) to adjust its size and significantly reducing the complexity of moving parts. This design involved attaching the tray to a semi-permanent mount on the walker, allowing it to rotate and extend in front of the client before snapping into a latch.

After careful consideration, Nathan opted for the second option, recognizing its feasibility within our limited timeframe.
First proof of concept
Conceptual drawings(left)
First Prototype(right)

         Design


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1. Mount:
Inspired by existing walker attachments (see cup holder attachment), our two-part mount aimed to hug one leg of the walker. This piece was quite simple as it is fundamentally a block with a hole to interface with the pivot mechanism. Though Simple in concept, challenges arose in manufacturing, with early prototypes breaking under perpendicular load.  the greatest  However, iterative improvements followed each break, refining the design.
2. Clip:
The Clip attached opposite to the mount utilizing a passive mechanism to effectively latch on to walker and stop the Tray from moving while in use. Many challenges were faced with either bulkiness or complexity where too much forced would be required to disengage the clip. than we wanted Nathan to use. The clip was temporarily put on hold to prioritize more pressing aspects, such as the tray.
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3. Tray:
Comprised of multiple parts , the Tray required a a pivot housing allowing the tray to swivel to and from a locked position, a hub to affix the pivot to the tray , and some sort of reinforcing structure to ensure that the tray would support the weight of a healthy meal.
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Initial concerns where emerged as the current mounting configuration induced unwanted forces on the tray itself. The team fixated on strength experimented adding ribs to
to increase the strength and rigidity as method is used in many everyday items like milk crates or other plastic trays. However, Faced with manufacturing issues the team shifted to use aluminum C channel and a series of hubs to create an exoskeleton like structure that could be attached to the tray.
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With the birth of this idea came about our first (sorta)working prototype. This iteration had the strength, and in theory could be used. However, in our tunnel vision the team neglected a crucial aspect when designing for a user: Aesthetics. Recognizing the oversight, we realized the product's appearance didn't align with our client's preferences, emphasizing the importance of both functionality and aesthetic design.

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First working prototype

The Redesign

While the need for a redesign was evident, several key factors had to be considered: the absence of a working Clip design, the lack of a backup plan, and a week and a half until the deadline for the initial dining hall test


After thorough deliberation the team found consensus that to start again with a couple of caveats. First, Executive board was taking over 90% of all work required, this allowed the freedom to rapidly design without stopping along the way to teach. Second, we decided to combine our test fit (Nathan trying out the tray on the walker) and our test day (testing the A.T.A in the dining hall), this provided more time but increased the risk of potential failures.
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Through collaborative efforts involving the Executive Board, advanced members, and myself, we successfully redesigned 90% of the A.T.A. To break it down the team needed to limit the amount of forces experienced by the tray and translate those forces more efficiently into the mount. Inspired by the Stander Assist-A-Tray, we developed a sleeker design with a center-mounted tray, a new pivot, and a latching device. Fabrication commenced urgently, first utilizing 3D models to identify and address potential issues  To mitigate the amount of iterations needed.

Finally on test day For first time ever on campus Nathan got his own food without any assistance what so ever. ‍
Stander assist-a-tray
Our redesign: First redesign concept(top left)
                          Second redesign concept(bottom left)
                          Second Iteration of A.T.A(right)

But development is never over, we can always make the product better and plan to. As part of Let's Innovate on going goal to give back to the community we are redesigning and improving A.T.A to work not only better for Nathan but for anyone that is in need.

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