Lack of information about bathroom access is a major pain point in disabled people’s access to public spaces — a problem known as the ‘bladder’s leash’. We designed a bathroom map platform that builds on a student organization’s participatory mapping activism and combines it with crowd-sourcing. We performed open-ended formative studies, and user-testing.
Determining whether a proposed continuum arm design can complete a specified task and load is computationally expensive due to the need for simulation. We introduce a novel method of analysis that eliminates the need for simulation, speeding up computation by 80x, and creates novel metrics for evaluating arm designs against tasks.
Studio teaching is increasingly popular, but teaching in one is difficult, especially for new instructors. We studied how new instructors learn to teach in a studio environment through a collective ethnography of four undergrad course assistants. We identified challenges new instructors faced and strategies they in response.
Inspired by octopus arms, helically-wound muscles greatly increase continuum arm workspaces, but they are more difficult to model and control. We present a novel application of Lie theory to simplify the modeling of constant twist soft robots, and unify modeling across different designs. Won 3rd place best workshop poster.