Given what we learned from the experts at J&J last week, we’ve adjusted the fundamental goal of our concepts and developed our first version of a holding fixture. We learned exactly what features on the catheter the technicians look for during quality checks, so we incorporated space for them in our design.

Compared to a couple weeks ago, many of the features we planned for wire insertion were removed or altered to better address the problem. We brought the updated concepts to life through animation. As seen below, it’s quite a difference; simpler is better!

To keep track of what we’re automating, we created a flowchart mapping the entire assembly process from start to finish. This way, we can highlight the exact steps our mechanism performs that are currently done by a human. Collaboration with the liaison is vital for understanding the work to be done, since this visual aid was based on the provided documentation.

We’ve also begun diving into the software side by testing out computer vision tools like OpenCV, and exploring how the libraries work with shape detection and image labeling.

Next week, we’re starting on the design, testing, and evaluation of our other fixtures in the system. In fact, some are being 3D printed right now… Stay tuned to see how they turn out!