SENSORY BOARD FOR ADAMS
ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND
Team 22
Project 41
TA – Sarah Brittain
Faculty Advisor – Dr. John Enderle
Client – Brian Schwarz
Danielle Napoli
Alyssa Smith
Christine Wakefield
OVERVIEW
 Adams Adventure is an organization dedicated to helping children with
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disabilities find a place to play and have fun.
The organization was inspired by a little boy, who despite several
medical complications in his life that has left him blind and learning
disabled, has been able to remain optimistic and joyful.
The organization has asked us to design and build a sensory board for a
playground being built in Tolland, Ct.
This sensory board is going to act as an interactive wall that will include
several games and activities for children of all backgrounds to enjoy.
The focus of this project is to create a safe and friendly environment in
which children with disabilities can enjoy what most children already
have.
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OVERVIEW
 The final design will be a 12 ft long, 4 ft tall and 5 in think board
positioned at angles.
 The panels on the ends of the board will be slightly shorter so that
children in wheelchairs will be able to roll underneath them and have an
opportunity to enjoy all of the activities.
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COMPLETED WORK
 Designed the board entire from scratch.
 Thought of and designed 6 separate games of ranging difficulty and age
appropriateness.
 Designed the outline of the board and researched what materials would be
appropriate.
 Attended several meetings with both client, extended client and vendor to cover
specifications of how they desire the board to be built.
 Researched disabilities to correctly design panels that would be appropriate for
children with several disabilities including blindness, deafness, autism spectrum
disorders, ADD and ADHD.
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COMPLETED WORK – MUSIC PANEL DESIGN
 The music panel will include two main parts.
 Chimes which will be integrated within the board for children to play with their
fingers.
 Electric piano that will have notes in standard alphabet and braille.
 When playing the notes, the piano keys will light up.
 The children will have the option to choose a song to play. Once they have chosen the song
that they wish to play the piano keys will light up accordingly.
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COMPLETED WORK – MEMORY GAME
 The memory game is aimed toward children who may suffer from an
autism spectrum disorder.
 Children with these disorders typically have an underdeveloped hippocampus in the
limbic system which deals mostly with memory.
 The game will consist of a circle of 6 buttons. When children press start
a random button in the circle will light up and once the child has
pressed that button another will be added to the sequence.
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COMPLETED WORK – COMMUNICATION
 This panel is dedicated to children who are blind or anyone who wants
something new to learn.
 There will be two boards, one with the braille alphabet and the other
with riddles.
 The riddles will be in both standard alphabet and braille, however only
the answers will be in braille.
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COMPLETED WORK – SONAR LIGHT UP
 This panel will include sonar sensors embedded into the panel which
will record children's movement.
 The sensors will then tell several LED’s in the panel to light up when an
object passes in front of it.
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COMPLETED WORK – CREATE-A-PICTURE
 This activity will be a way for children to create their own unique
picture.
 There will be a 6x6 grid of 2”x2” buttons that when pressed in will light
up to a selected color.
 There will be a locking mechanism and a reset button involving the
buttons and their casings covered in magnetic strips.
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COMPLETED WORK – HAND CRANK GAME
 This game will call for the children to turn a hand crank.
 As the crank is turning, a gauge will rise showing their progress.
 There will be sounds to show children who may be blind when they
have reached certain points in the game.
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PROJECT REVIEW - SUCCESSES
 We have been donated the posts that will hold together the actual
panels.
 We have a clear idea as to what we want to do.
 The client is very impressed with our design ideas.
 We have a contact in the electrical engineering department that we can
contact to consult on what we need.
 We have a contact with the vendor who will send our ideas to his team
of engineers to be reviewed.
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PROJECT REVIEW - DRAWBACKS
 We are still unsure as to what materials and equipment we will need.
 We will be talking to both an electrical engineer on campus and one on the Adams
Adventure Construction Team as to how to approach this.
 The vendor will not install the inverter and the electrical underground
components at the site on installation day.
 We will stay in contact with the electrical engineer on the Construction Team who
will help us with this situation.
 Having difficulties as to what we should consider when designing this
board; specifically for children with disabilities and common problem
they have.
 We are going to meet with parents of children with disabilities and ask them things
we should keep in mind.
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FUTURE WORK FOR WEEK 8
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FUTURE WORK - DELEGATIONS
 Danielle Napoli
 Memory game
 Communications
 LED’s
 Inverter
 Everyone
 Come up with a general letter
asking for donations and gifts
 Specify it to certain companies that
were researched.
 Alyssa Smith
 Create a picture
 Music panel
 Material for board
 Christine Wakefield
 Hand Crank
 Sonar light up
 Circuitry
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BUDGET
 We currently have a total of $3,000.
 $1,000 from Biomedical Engineering Department.
 $2,000 from School of Engineering.
 The main costs will be used for the material of the panel and the
physical circuitry of each game.
 The posts and brackets that will be holding up the actual panels are
being donated to us by Miracle Recreation.
 A charge that would normally have cost us $180 each.
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HOURS WORKED – DANIELLE NAPOLI
 10/7/12 – 1 hr Optimal Design ideas.
 10/8/12 – 1.5 hrs researching sonar sensor specifications for sonar light
up.
 10/9/12 – 2.5 hrs on Optimal Design Report
 10/10/12 – 3.5 hrs proofreading and formatting Optimal Design Report.
 10/11/12 – 1.5 hr meeting with Miracle Recreation & Adams Adventure.
 Total – 10 hours
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HOURS WORKED – ALYSSA SMITH
 10/7/12 – 3 hrs working on solidworks design simulation for the
"Create-a-picture" and "Music" panel
 10/8/12 – 2 hrs researching on different motors for the "Create-a-
picture" panel and 2 hrs writing Optimal Design Report
 10/9/12 – 4 hrs working on solidworks design simulation for the
"Create-a-picture" and "Music" panel
 10/11/12 – 1 hr working on drafting a letter asking for HDPE donation
 Total - 11 hours
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HOURS WORKED – CHRISTINE WAKEFIELD
 10/7/12 - 1 hrs on optimal design and 30 minutes brainstorming how to
make the memory game (with digital logic)
 10/8/12 - 1 hour team meeting and 1.5 hours on optimal design
 10/9/12 - 30 minutes team meeting with Brian and 1.5 hours finishing
optimal design
 10/10/12 - about 1 hour in office hours with Johnathan Sapienza from
Covidien for a bit of solidworks help, also got advice on how to make
hand crank and with what materials
 10/11/12 - 1.5 hours meeting with board and vendor (at Star Hill)
 Total - 8.5 hours
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QUESTIONS
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