Students in IoT: In Depth Course Showcase Projects
By Jess Ignasky
MIIPS students in the Internet of Things: In Depth course showcased prototypes during final presentations earlier this month.
Throughout the semester, students were tasked with developing an Internet of Things (IoT) product concept that solved a problem individuals may encounter in their everyday lives. Students explored the implementation of their product in detail from technology to user experience, resulting in a refined prototype and proposal for bringing their product to market.
The Electric Pint Glass
Jackson Zhao and Tom Lansing identified a common issue many face when dining at restaurants or bars: communication between servers and patrons.
Lansing describes the problem statement, “When you are out to dinner, you’re planning on spending that time catching up with friends or family. The server does not want to interrupt that time, but they have to walk a narrow line where if they aren’t checking in enough, you’ll say: where was our server the whole night? But, if they are checking in too often, you’ll say: that server just didn’t leave us alone while we were trying to talk!”
The solution?
A handsome pint glass attachment with a call button much like those used to call for help from an attendant on commercial flights.
Affixed to the bottom of the class, the call button has lights adjusted to the tone and setting of the restaurant or bar.
When patrons are ready to order or want another drink, they can tap the button on the bottom of their glass and their server will be alerted to the table by the ‘Ding!’ sound.
Strides
Michelle Murray, Shobhit Aggarwal, and Tianyang ‘Tiger’ Lei worked to tackle another problem statement.
Strides, a gait analysis device, aims to help athletes playing high-risk sports with the lack of immediate consultation surrounding gait evaluation, an indicator for injuries or treatment types in many sports.
“Athletes crave personal training,” says Murray, “Athletes today are constantly using wearable technology to analyze their performance when competing or in practice. Individualization helps match the right workout with the right athlete based on their body composition.”
Strides aims to solve this problem with a wearable device attached to a shoe that can be worn to provide accurate feedback in real-time about an athlete’s foot function.
This device will help with active rehabilitation, “teaching athletes to make better decisions one step at a time,” by tracking the position at which the athlete’s foot hits the ground and where the pressure points are so athletes can learn where they are applying the most force in their stride and make informed decisions about their positioning.
