Summary

Purpose:

As part of the IMPACT Initiative Project, my team and I delved into the design space through the levels of the Engineering Design Process. We designed an accessible cutting board for our client who was diagnosed with Usher’s Syndrome, a genetic condition which affects a person’s hearing and vision.

Problem Statement:

The goal is to design a mechanism that incorporates visual components and is easily usable to aid the client in independent daily cooking tasks such as chopping vegetables.

Objectives:

High contrast of bright neon colors to make it easier for the client to view the parts
Mechanism is durable and can be used repeatedly without significant wear
Client can easily use and incorporate mechanism in daily routine
Design is recyclable and produced with a low carbon footprint
Mechanism can easily be transported and is safe for the client to use without risk

Constraints:

Production cost must be minimal so that the client can easily replace or repair the device

Functions:

Holds fruit/vegetable in place
Chops fruit/vegetable easily
Easy to clean

Team’s Work and Personal Contributions

Concept Sketch

To achieve our goal of creating a mechanism that can aid the client in daily cooking tasks such as chopping vegetables, my team and I created a concept sketch which had the best aspects of all our individual ideas based on our decision matrix. It clearly communicated our idea of a cutting board with a movable slider and a built-in blade.

Initial concept sketch

Prototype

I was responsible for creating the prototype of our accessible cutting board based on the concept sketch. At first it was difficult for me to visualize and see how I could convert a 2D sketch into a 3D low fidelity prototype but soon I was able to collect materials such as cardboard and bring the key components of our vision to life.

Key components of the design:

Slider: Pushes vegetables along the cutting board
Tracks: Holds food in place while chopping
Blade: Cuts food using its linear up and down motion
Container: Connected to the cutting board with magnets for easy collection and disposal of vegetables

Low fidelity prototype of accessible cutting board

Final Product - Safe Slice

After multiple design iterations, our team was able to bring our vision “Safe Slice” to life. We used a combination of 3d-printing, laser cutting, and sourced outside materials such as containers and wooden blocks to create our final high fidelity prototype. To go above and beyond we filmed a commercial style video to show off our creation.