Content Coupled Surface

Real time Visualizations of the heat map when the laptop is placed on the map
Real time Visualizations of the heat map when the laptop is placed on the map
Fun we had while making the inflating surface
Final prototype
The inflating surface which sits under the mat
Final prototype

Inspiration

Our inspiration behind this project is to address the ongoing problem of bed-sores and pressure sores in the hospitals which requires nurses to manually move the patient if there is chance of blood clotting in some parts of the patient's body.

What it does

Content coupled surface combines various aspects of smart health-care system. It seamlessly couples the data it senses to make decisions about inflating/ deflating the surface which in turn changes the pressure and facilitates the blood flow.

Sensing the actual pressure at various points constantly, quickly and efficiently.
From the raw sensed values, determining which values of the pressure have changed over time which enables the surface to determine whether a person has moved or not.
Inflating the innovative surface composed of 2 silicone layers by sending appropriate control signals to valves and air-pump motors.
Providing a web-app with real-time visualizations which nurses and doctors can use to study patient's movements and help them monitor the current state of the patient.
It encapsulates the working prototype of a closed-loop system which not only senses data, but also makes smarter decisions to alleviate pressure at certain points.

How we built it

For the sensing part, we used LPC1768 microcontroller (mBed) and a Analog multiplexer and de-multiplexer unit. mBed took care of the algorithm to sense the pressure quickly and efficiently and to determine which pressure points have not changed over time. These pressure points were sent to the raspberry Pi via UART on a python process. This process had the algorithm to determine which of the valves will be opened or closed to inflate/ deflate the smart surface. This python process also receives raw values of the various pressure points which are used to generate a heat map. A node.js web-server is also running on the raspBerry pi which communicates with the browser asynchronously to render real-time visualizations using socket.io (2D for the heat map and 3D for the current status of the surface).

We also built an innovative smart surface with certain design changes. The procedure to build the basic surface can be found here: [link] http://www.instructables.com/id/Flat-Soft-Actuators-From-Images/

Challenges we ran into

Coming up with the innovative design for the inflating/ deflating surface. Coming up with real-time visualizations which can be used by health care providers to monitor the current state of the system. Coming up with a robust design of the whole system and integrating various components seamlessly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We did not confine ourselves to a particular domain and hence our project was a collaboration of different domains (Mechanical Engineering + Computer Science + Electrical Engineering)

What we learned

Working collaboratively and under tight deadlines at the hardware + software + mechanical interface.

What's next for Content Coupled Surface

Scaling the existing prototype and converting it into a product. Designing mechanisms to route air using optimum number of valves. Determining the size of the inflating surface depending on the weight it should hold and granularity depending on the use cases in various different applications.