“SIP AND PUFF” CONTROLLED FISHING ROD FOR QUADRIPLEGICS

Team Reel-I-Ability

(Left to Right)

Kyle Wagner

Andy Kittle

Project Objective:

Design a device that would allow a quadriplegic person to cast and retrieve a fishing lure, while adhering to the guidelines set forth by the organizing committee for the 2006 ASME Student Design Competition.

Project Overview:

We were charged with the task of creating a device that can cast a fishing lure and reel it back in with a simulated “fish” of 1.5 kilograms.  This device must be able to be operated by a quadriplegic person, by means of inputs from a sip/puff controller.  A sip/puff controller is a device that can be placed in the mouth of a quadriplegic individual.  This device allows them to make electronic inputs to various control units such as a wheelchair, by sipping or puffing air into the mouthpiece.  For this design competition, we will not be required to actually use a sip/puff controller, however should this design go to market, it would meet said requirements.

This project’s significance is that it will ideally impact people’s lives in a positive way.  Although no particular corporation will benefit from our work, we are motivated to realize humanitarian instead of capitalistic gains.  Our project was sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  Our sponsor is Dr. Eric Mockensturm, who is also our ASME advisor.  At the time of this project, all members working on it are officers in Penn State's chapter of ASME.

Project Highlights:

• This design covers many fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering, such as electronic circuits, dynamics, kinematics, design, and presentation skills
• Our device can cast and retrieve a 20 gram sandbag "lure" to specified distances, based solely on the starting position of our fishing rod
• Our device can retrieve a 5 kilogram sandbag "fish" and place it on a makeshift dock
• Our device operates solely by momentary on-off switches, like those found in "Sip and Puff" control devices which could easily interface with our design
• Our team competed in, and won, the 2006 ASME Student Design Competition for our region, held on March 18th 2006
• ASME specified that we had to create a detailed set of assembly instructions and bill of materials to accompany our final design
• Self-imposed budget restriction of $800

Project Timeline:

After brainstorming as many possibilities as feasible, we constructed a decision matrix.  From this we chose our final design.  Once we had the design chosen, we began simulating and calculating the projectile trajectory.  This was necessary to determine various dimensions, forces, and components.  From our calculations, we determined the optimal launch angles and velocities that would allow us to achieve all distances between 6 and 10 meters, without hitting the imposed ceiling of 1.5 meters.  We then ran MATLAB code based on a kinematic diagram we constructed.  From this, we were able to accurately estimate the needed spring tensions, attachment points, and clutch torque ratings.

Once the calculations were completed, we could begin work on the actual fabrication.  We designed as much as possible with SolidWorks so that we could better visualize our design.  Furthermore, using this drafting software, we could easily generate DXF files for the WaterJet machine.  This machine was utilized as much as possible throughout our fabrication phase to save time and improve strength.

When assembly was complete, we had to test our design as much as possible.  In most cases, we were able to test various phases of operation as the design came together.  We devised the following testing procedure, which was completely dictated by the rules of the design competition.

Our test procedure, in order of completion:

1. Cast the full 10m and also hit the 6m mark.
2. Verify that the lure never flies more than 3.5m above the floor.
3. Reel in the 1.5kg “fish” across a carpeted surface.
4. Timed test:  five successive casts, reel in the “fish,” and place it on the dock, as dictated by the design contest requirements.  Must be completed in four minutes.
5. Reel in the “fish” in 30 to 60 seconds.
6. Test fit our assembly in the 300mm x 300mm x 400mm storage box.
7. Timed test:  assembly time must be less than three minutes.

To test for accuracy:

1. Cast 8 meters
2. Make large adjustments to device by changing the spring tension.  We will change the spring tension by changing where the spring attaches to the rod.
3. Make small adjustments by adjusting the starting position of the rod.  To clarify, we are not going to vary the release angle or rotational force (due to the spring tension); instead we will change the angle at which the rod begins accelerating at the beginning of the cast.

Project Performance:

During the competition, our device didn't perform as intended.  When we reassembled it after transportation, we had a slight alignment problem with one of our snap rings which didn't allow us to cast.  It was a heart breaking experience, but fortunately our competition didn't fare much better.  The judges awarded us the victory, based on our overall design and on our report which was submitted to ASME.  As a result of winning, we each received $50 and travel expenses covered to Chicago, where the national competition will be held in November.

After the competition, we've done little to our design.  We did change the mounting bracket for the solenoid, and we changed the clutch design slightly, in hopes to offer more repeatability.

Lessons Learned:

• Everything takes longer than you think it should
• "Lefty Loosey, Rightsy Tightsy"
• You can't "double-chuck" something in the lathe
• WaterJets are worth the money
• Slowing down to do it right the first time is faster than hurrying up and screwing up
• Practice makes perfect