Hi!! So much has happened since I last wrote, I’m so excited. So Ela and I began the brainstorming process, which was very interesting to say the least. Some of my ideas were “interesting” but I was told by Devin Hubbard, who met with Ela and I earlier in the month, to write down whatever popped into my head, so I did. I had several ideas; a rod that attaches the pedal to a hand, a propeller attached to pedal, an INVERSE UNICYCLE , where you have two wheels and one pedal… Anyways, we met with Dr. Saul, who advised us to go in a CamShaft route, which Ela and I both loved. Basically, you want rotational motion, which is what the bike pedal exerts, but a CamShaft helps you achieve that rotational motion through linear motion, which simplifies everything- this is a CamShaft, image courtesy of the one and only wikipedia.
Then earlier today I met with Dr. Aaron Fleming and Brendan Driscoll, a grad student who actually has an AK prosthesis and has biked before. The meeting was insanely helpful. Dr. Fleming pointed out that many people in LDCs have prosthetic sockets, they just don’t fit right. Brendan, and most people in LDCs wear something like this https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0824/6797/products/syncor-tes-belt-with-cut-out-above-knee-suspension-belt-TES-300_grande.jpg?v=1564946182 that connects to a belt to stabilize the socket and keep it from falling off. The other thing that Brendan told us was that getting on the bike was one of the most difficult parts of riding the bike itself, which is something we need to consider. Dr. Fleming was also wondering if we might want to connect the CamShaft to the socket itself rather than the stump. All in all, we got such great feedback from so many amazing people we interviewed (thank you so much!!!) and will be implementing their feedback and advise in our future steps. Yay!