Project
Design a robot for a mechatronic's competition at the University of Pennsylvania.
Responsibilities & skills
Result
My team won the first prize amog 90 students and 24 robots.
Innovation
The tank does not need any installation before use. The user will only need an appropriately sized area to place the device. Additionally, the company offers remodeling of areas to become suitable spaces for the comfortable use of the device.
The only actions the user needs to perform before using the isolation tank are as simple and similar as using a washing machine. The device only needs to be connected to the electrical and water sources. The device will take care of the rest.
The device does not require any short-term additional maintenance. The water and the device will get cleaned within the device system. The company offers the client long term low-cost maintenance or the possibility to train someone to do so.
Viable
The company works mainly on a business to business model, selling the tank and accessories directly to spas, gyms, clubs, hotels, rehabilitation clinics, psychology clinics.
Additionally to selling the device to the client one time, the client will need to buy additional and accessories from the company, for instance, the salts for the water or filters. This ensures additional incomes to the company and long-term client relationships.
The device was designed maintaining the standards for exportation. The production cost has allowed the product to have a groundbreaking price in the Latin American market, where there are only imported floatation thanks from the U.S. and Europe.
Feasible
eïa is the first sensory deprivation tank offered in Ecuador's market and the first in Latin America that has the water purification system integrated to the machine. The patent for this system is pending in Ecuador and will be registered in different countries of the region.
When the water pump starts working it transfers the salted water from the isolation tank to the purification tank. There is a small hole that connects both the isolation and the purification tank. As the pump suctions more liters per minute than this hole can transfer between both tanks, two water levels are created. This gives way to a waterfall, which oxygenates the water.
The shape and design of the device do not only respond to technical requirements and the user interaction with it. It also responds to the manufacturing process, technology and tools available. The device is hand made of fiberglass, due to this, the shape could not be too complex. Moreover, the shape should correspond to the fabrication process as unmolding, structure, mobility, etc.
Materials
Execution
