Rapid Prototyping Brings ‘Ideas for Good’ to Life at CMU

While we're constantly writing about <a href="http://inhabitat.com/solar-roadways-to-prototype-first-ever-solar-road-panel/">innovative</a> new <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/the-best-green-designs-from-the-nyu-itp-2011-spring-student-show/">prototypes</a>, it's rare that we actually get to see how these designs come to life. But this past weekend we spent two days in a warehouse at <a href="http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml" target="_blank">Carnegie Mellon University</a> in <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/pittsburgh">Pittsburgh</a> doing just that. We watched some of the most talented designers and creative engineers from CMU and <a href="http://www.deeplocal.com/">Deeplocal</a> work with the winners of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/designers-use-toyotas-technologies-to-create-ideas-for-good/">Toyota's Ideas for Good challenge</a> to adapt <a href="http://www.toyota.com/" target="_blank">Toyota</a> technologies to build entirely new products that could make the world a better place. It was an incredibly exciting and inspiring <a href="http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/" target="_blank">weekend</a>, and we had a ton of fun watching the engineers in their element. Hit jump to see some of the rapid prototyping for yourself!

One of the most exciting projects was using the Prius' <a href="http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/technologies/solar-powered-ventilation-system.html">solar-powered ventilation</a> to create a clean air system for homes in developing countries where people still cook over open fires indoors. (Left to Right: Illah Nourbakhsh, CMU Robotics Professor; Patrick Miller, Deeplocal Engineer; Tim Witmer, winner)

Nearly 2 million people die every year because of indoor air pollution, and Tim's team created a ventilation system that can be adapted to different homes, climates, and cultures while still being inexpensive to manufacture.

To accurately test the system, they built a wooden hut and used the new system while they cooked over a fire inside. The Prius solar panel is on top of the hut.

They tested the air quality while they cooked, and the results were amazing -- the ventilation system made a life-saving difference in the number of particulates in the air.

Most of the electricity generating exercise equipment that we see comes in the form of cardio machines. But to make 20-year-old <a href="http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/winners/hybrid-synergy-drive.html">Birken Schimpff's</a> idea of the power plant gym a reality, the team went a different route. They bought a weight machine, but left the weights off when they built it. Instead, they attached a bicycle wheel to change the vertical motion into a circular motion able to capture the energy.

They custom made a circuit board for the machine.

They also custom made an adjustable handle to change the resistance.

While the system could not power the lights in the gym, it could be used to power things the person on the machine uses while they work out -- like the TV or their iPod. Here you can see the machine powering the little blue LED lights in the orange box.

Another design that has real potential to hit the market is the better bike helmet, concocted by <a href="http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/winners/THUMS.html">Stu Selthun</a>. Stu's team didn't create a new bike helmet in three days, but they did design a data collecting device that could pave the way for a better bike helmet.

Josh Schapiro, a CMU professor that worked with <a href="http://www.deeplocal.com/" target="_blank">Deeplocal</a>, created a small data collector with two circuit boards and five different sensors that measure different types of acceleration and force.

They attached the sensor pack to a helmet and did a variety of drop tests with a pulley system, then compared that data to data that Dr. Stitzel had run through Toyota's T.H.U.M.S. software.

The idea behind the pack is that it could be manufactured and sold to bikers, who could attach it to their own helmets. If they crash, the sensor would blink or send information to their phone letting them know whether or not they need to go to the hospital. Then the data collected from these real-life crashes could be used to design a better bike helmet. Deeplocal wrote a custom software to visualize the data collected during the drop tests.

Another really exciting project, perhaps because there was a firetruck involved, was the creation of a sensor box that would help firefighters more accurately position ladders and better inform them of the conditions of a burning building. <a href="http://www.deeplocal.com/" target="_blank">Deeplocal</a> custom designed and built the box using some sensors similar to those in Toyota's advanced parking guidance system.

<a href="http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/winners/advanced-parking-guidance-system.html">Fran Orzech</a> came up with the idea, and he worked with <a href="http://www.deeplocal.com/" target="_blank">Deeplocal</a> to design a product that would allow firemen to know things like the temperature, the levels of a variety of toxins, and proximity to the building without having to send someone up the ladder. Here, Shawn Sims of Deeplocal attaches the box to the firetruck.

The box is attached to the top of the firetruck ladder, and the information it collects is seen in real time on a monitor down on the firetruck.

When Deeplocal first approached the Pittsburgh Fire Chief about the idea, he was skeptical. But as soon as they showed him the prototype, he said, "When can we get this on the market?"

The fifth and final prototype created was a customizable touch screen keyboard, invented by David Champion. He originally came up with the idea for a curved, ergonomic keyboard.

Using a system similar to Toyota's touch tracer technology, <a href="http://www.deeplocal.com/">Deeplocal</a> engineers designed an app-based system that includes a keyboard, mouse, and any other input that you might want. Two moveable touch screens were used so the user has complete control.

When your hands are on the touch keyboard, a pop-up image regular QWERTY keyboard appears on your monitor showing exactly where your fingers are.

All of the winning ideas, plus the other 20 finalists, now belong to CMU and, if they want, the creators can work with the university on their continued development. Toyota donated $100,000 to CMU to help the development keep going.