Amanda Bass, Joey Coll, François-Stéphane Domchueng and Austin Lu, students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Texas A&M University, were part of the winning team at the most recent Aggies Invent competition.
The team, which also included mechanical engineering major James O’Connell and general engineering major Robert Shannon, developed a method to accurately weigh individuals who are bound to a wheel chair.
The systems in place today require the cooperation of multiple people and can cause a great deal of discomfort to the individual being weighed. Assistants and nurses must pick the patient up out of their chair, zero out the wheel chair’s weight once it is placed on the scale and then place the patient back in the chair.
The new system developed by the first-place team utilizes a pressure-based weight measurement device that allows weight to be obtained while the patient is lying down in their bed. The measurement is then uploaded with the use of a Bluetooth connection and a smart phone.
Aggies Invent is a 48-hour intensive design experience offered at the Engineering Innovation Center (EIC), a 20,000-square foot rapid prototyping lab on the Texas A&M campus.
Teams compete for cash awards ranging from $500 to $1,000 within a specific theme. The end goal is to provide students the opportunity to acquire skills essential to becoming successful innovation leaders and support them in founding startup companies.
To view a video explaining the winning team’s project, visit: https://youtu.be/3d6qEMl1f8g
For more information on Aggies Invent, visit: Aggies Invent