Project To Simplify Tying Shoelaces

Today we are working on the prototypes and thinking of getting them ready for next week. This is because next week our user Diego will come to the lab to test our prototypes. We have been told to make more than one prototype to pick the best working one. 

Last week at the end of the course even though we had a prototype ready, our teachers said that 3D printing a small hinge won’t be durable enough and will easily break after a few uses. They have recommended us to use an already existing object for the hinge. We found today that the best working object seems to be the ink containers inside pens. The size is appropriate for our project which made it the most suitable option.

 Update: We showed our prototypes to the teachers and there was a slight problem with the sizing (1a, 2a, 3a). We chose a 0.5mm thickness which is not durable enough and hard to print with the 3D printer. To guide us, the teacher gave us an object that contains all the thickness. This object (A, B) gave us a better understanding of the sizes we should use for our prototypes. The fixed version of our prototype has now a 2mm thickness(1b, 2b, 3b).

Update: We showed the fixed version of our second prototype but there was another slight problem with the clip that we wanted to do(1c, 2c, 3c, 4c). It turns out that it is more complicated than we thought. For the solution, the teacher sent us documents to guide us and visualize the geometry we need to use for the clip. We changed the shape of the clip with a better geometry(1d, 2d, 3d).

All the photos are included in the “The Reference Photos” file.

Today, we worked on our prototype on FUSION 360 and we think that we have our first printable prototype.

We know that this prototype 1 isn't going to be our final project but we still hope that it still can be used.

We decided to make the clipper ( prototype ) in 3 pieces, two for the main parts (up and down) and the last part is to link the piece together.

Then we'll have to add 2 more pieces inside the clipper because that's what is going to hold the laces.

Here's some examples of material and how it's going to help us holding the laces in place :

- if we use rubber, the 2 pieces of rubber will get squished against each other and with the laces in between it won't move.

- if we use plastic again, then we'll make some pics in a certain direction to allow the laces to be tightened without allowing them to get loosened. (but this idea doesn't seem practical because both laces aren't going in the same direction.

Here's the dimension of our printable prototype 1 :

- length : 2 x 3 cm

- depth/height : 1 cm

- hinge : ~ 3cm

Here's how our prototype 1 is :

For the next session we'll try to 3D print it ! 

Today we focused more on our prototype and the feedback we got in the previous session. And thought of ways to improve it. 

Summary of the first try of the prototype : 

At first Diego didn’t know how to use it without explanation 

Then we explained to him how to use it and he had trouble putting the laces in it as said in LOG 1.

So we should put some small intersections for the laces so that the laces do not move.  

We noticed at first that he had trouble pull the laces

But at the end we saw that he could do it 

More details on our prototype (for now) : 

Made of two pieces in cardboard : 

In rectangle one large and one skinny to imitate the clip. 

Some rubber band 

Creation For Diego’s Laces 

For who?:  For Diego 

 Problem: He can’t tie his shoes. 

 Solution: The solution can be to create an object to help him tie his shoes by replacing the tying and untying part. 

 Imrovement: The prototype needs to hold a bit the laces so that they don’t go everywhere and make it even more difficult for Diego. 

Feedback we received : 

Diego seemed to have trouble keeping the laces in the same place when putting the prototype on. So, it would be nice to add some small insertions for the laces. Then it would be nice to have a better clip to open and close the prototype.