Andrew Files

Author: Andrew Files | Major: Mechanical Engineering, Physics | Semester: Fall 2024

My name is Andrew Files, and I am a Junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Physics.
This project is a team project involving two other students and I, who are all part of a group
called RIOT, which stands for Robotics Interdisciplinary Organization of Teams. I joined the
group as a freshman to learn more about robotics as a potential career path. We are conducting
research under Dr. Dix in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Dr.
Dix has been a faculty sponsor of RIOT for several years and was the obvious choice for our
research mentor for this project.

This project is a collaborative effort between the Honors College and RIOT. The Honors College
was approached about a student at a local middle school who has a physical disability who
wanted to play the trombone. They then approached RIOT Honors students about the project
since it would likely involve robotics. One of the main goals for the organization is to further
students’ understanding and exposure to robotics in ways that make it fun and interesting, such
as hands-on experience building small plastic combat robots or for more structured projects like
this one. We were happy to take on the project and began working this fall. Besides myself,
there are two other students on the project, Grace Harding, a Junior Computer Engineering
major, is our team lead and electronics designer, and Aidan Donoho, a Junior Electrical
Engineering major, is our electronics optimization and longevity researcher. I am responsible for
the mechanical design and device accessibility and comfort.

Our main goal is to create a device that allows the student to fully experience the joys of
learning a musical instrument despite his disability. Of course, this prevents some challenges,
as music requires precise positioning, timing, and a lack of noise. So, we have to select the
movement system that provides all of these things. After working through the pros and cons of
several different systems, we settled on using a belt system similar to ones found in 3D printers.
Webelieve this will meet all of our requirements and allow for a lightweight, easily repairable,
and cost effective solution.

Our secondary goal is to look into how existing accessibility aids in music education can be
improved or customized for a specific student’s needs. Our student employs a motorized
wheelchair in everyday life, so integrating our device with the existing controls for his chair was
a natural choice. This presents some challenges in the electronics and software of our device
since we are attempting to integrate with a preexisting device with its own control scheme and
software. Another design constraint is how to attach the apparatus to the student’s wheelchair
so he has full mobility while using it. We also want the device to be easy to remove by one
person. This means that all of our attachment points must not require tools or complicated
mechanical knowledge. We will be working through these design challenges this coming
semester.

After we give the device to the student, we will also conduct regular check-ins to get feedback
on where we can improve the function of the device as a musical tool and as an accessibility
aid. Then we will continue to improve the device until it meets the student’s needs. We are also
designing the device to be adjustable in almost every way so that as he grows, the device will
not need to be rebuilt.