STEM II is a class taught by Dr. Crowthers designed to introduce Mass Academy students to the process of creating a product specially for a person. All previous projects that we worked on in STEM with Science and Technical Writing led up to this project, Assistive Technology. Assistive Technology is a group project with roles for each student to contribute to the final product. In Assistive Technology, you must communicate with a client to discover what exactly they require. All Assistive Technology projects are designed for people who may need help with tasks the rest of us take for granted. For example, in the past groups have worked with veterans, wheelchair-bound individuals, elderly, and many others. I worked with Venkat, Emily, and Sumanth in our group the ButterCats.
In the status quo, there is no readily accessible device designed to protect elderly individuals during a fall. This is a problem because as individuals age, their risk of falling grows; joints become weaker, bones lose density, and cells do not repair at the rate they used to.
We designed a product that will cushion an individual if they fall. The device, named TrustFall contains two main components: the sensor and the airbag. The sensor will be used to register if the user is falling, and then will send a signal to activate the airbag; once the signal is received the airbag will inflate and cushion the user before they hit the ground.