Field Testing Protocol

At the Shaqfeh Lab, I worked on creating a robot that could easily move through non newtonian fluid. A non newtonian fluid is any type of fluid (gas or liquid) that does not behave like water, i.e. corn syrup, synovial fluid, molasses. The applications of this research are wide varying, for example understanding motion in synovial fluid in your knee can inform on how drugs are delivered in the knee specifically with respect to their speed, location and disbursement. The graduate student I worked under did calculations to determine what the best shape would be for motion in non-newtonian fluids. I assisted my mentor with computer aided design to bring this shape to life by creating a 3D shell for the electronics that would provide the robot with motility as well as other remote control capabilities. After 3D printing this shell, with the necessary electronics necessary for motion, we placed the robot in a mixture of polyacrylamide and corn syrup and video taped its real life motion in the solution and compared it to my mentor's initial simulated calculations. From this lab experience, the application that can be brought to my classroom is field testing 3D printed products. This curricular unit is integrated into my current product development unit. This unit has two parts. The first part is having students defining and identifying the key features of their computer aided design product. The second part involves students designing a field test protocol specifically centered around one of the mechanical aspects of their product.