This week was both exciting and productive for our IPPD team. We had the opportunity to present our Preliminary Design Review (PDR) to the class and receive valuable feedback from our peers and instructors. The feedback session was incredibly useful, as it helped us identify errors and areas that needed improvement in our presentation. With these insights, we’ll be able to refine and strengthen our PDR before presenting it to the Johnson & Johnson team later this month.

Most of our focus this week was on our trip to the Johnson & Johnson site in Jacksonville, Florida. This visit was a highlight of the week and gave us a much deeper understanding of how industrial-scale manufacturing systems function. We were able to observe the automated contact lens production line in action, which gave us a better appreciation for the complexity and precision required in such processes.

During our discussions with Ed and the rest of the J&J team, we learned a lot about how our design concepts could be better aligned with their existing manufacturing methods and future goals. Some of our original ideas had to be adjusted based on this new information, but it was a worthwhile change that will make our system more feasible and effective. The visit also helped us understand the kind of quality and integration J&J expects for future catheter production systems, which will guide our next steps.

Looking ahead, our plans for next week include refining our CAD models, developing 3D system components, and continuing to integrate sensor and vision subsystems into our design. We’ll also revise our PDR to include the feedback we received and technical details shared by J&J.

Overall, this week was a great learning experience—both in terms of presentation improvement and gaining a clearer understanding of how our project fits into a real-world industrial setting.

Here is a picture of some of us at dinner after the J&J site visit!

Week 6 has been a major step forward for Corbotics as we continue shaping our design concepts into tangible ideas. With our research foundation and early sketches in place, we’ve shifted focus toward refining how our system will operate and how to make it both reliable and user-friendly.

Our week began with logistics planning for upcoming site visits. The team will be traveling to Jacksonville this week, followed by a planned visit to Irvine, California later in the month. These trips will help us gain a better understanding of the environments and manufacturing processes our design will support.

On the design front, our focus has been integrating mechanical and automation ideas into a cohesive system. We’re creating 3D models in Blender to visualize how motion, alignment, and user interaction come together. Several design directions are being explored, especially around improving repeatability and ease of use in critical steps.

To enhance performance and precision, we discussed concepts like sensor integration, controlled motion mechanisms, and vision-based feedback that could improve consistency. We’re also considering ways to simplify operator interaction by reducing manual handling steps while keeping the system intuitive and safe to use.

Our discussions with faculty and mentors helped us refine small but important details, such as alignment accuracy, material compatibility, and how different components interface under load. These insights are guiding us toward more robust and manufacturable solutions.

Action Items for Next Week:

• Finalize updated CAD models and share within the team drive
• Select the most promising design path for initial prototyping
• Prepare documentation and visuals for upcoming reviews
• Gather feedback from our upcoming Jacksonville visit

Overall, this week was all about turning sketches into systems. Each discussion and iteration brought us closer to a design that’s not only functional but also repeatable, efficient, and ready to evolve into prototype form.

Stay tuned for next week’s update. By then, we’ll have new insights from our trip and more refined visuals to share!

It’s been over a month since our first day of class, and looking back, we’ve made significant progress towards finding a solution.. Week 5 has been about condensing our findings into a Preliminary Design Report, visualizing our ideas with sketches, and expanding our research efforts.

After we established our concept sketch library last week, we’ve been filling it up with drawings of our feeder mechanism and loop fixtures. We presented our sketches to the liaisons, and they loved them. Further tweaks will be made, especially after we receive the catheter components in person and understand the full picture of the assembly process.

To help expand our scope of knowledge, engineering librarian Amy Buhler guided us to resources and some tips and tricks on crafting search strategies for sifting through patent libraries, journals, etc. This will come in handy when we work on our design architecture next week. We are also looking forward to potentially organizing a trip to California to visit a site similar to the one we are assisting in Mexico.

Hey everyone! Week 4 has been another productive and energizing week for Corbotics as we keep making progress on our Johnson & Johnson Bimanual Wire Manipulation project. Here’s a look at what we’ve been working on and where we’re headed next.

This week we focused a lot on defining and refining our project foundation. We completed a draft of our Product Design Specifications (PDS) document, reviewed it with our coach, and went through two rounds of revisions to make it stronger. We also spent time brainstorming both mechanical and computer systems as potential solutions to the challenges of the project.

Another exciting step was composing a versatile elevator pitch for Corbotics something we can adapt depending on who we’re talking to, whether it’s our liaison engineers, classmates, or sponsors. Alongside that, we discussed team recommendations for strengthening our research and communication skills, how to approach the PDS review process, and even how to navigate travel request logistics.

On the creative side, we established a research and concept sketch library and added our very first system sketch. It’s a small but important milestone as we start building a visual collection of our design ideas.

Looking ahead to next week, we plan to:

• Complete our project roadmap, laying out the timeline from now until our SLDR presentation.
• Finalize and submit the Project First-Month Report.
• Discuss potential travel dates and begin the authorization process.
• Meet with engineering librarian Amy Buhler for research resources and guidance.
• Produce clear diagrams to communicate concept ideas more effectively.

Overall, we’re still right on schedule and feeling confident about where we’re headed.

That’s it for Week 4. Thanks for following along! We’re excited to keep building momentum as we head into Week 5. Stay tuned!

Corbotics Team – Week 3 Update:

Hey everyone! Week 3 has been a busy and exciting one for Team 11 (aka Corbotics) as we keep diving deeper into our Johnson & Johnson Bimanual Wire Manipulation project. Here’s a quick look at what we’ve been up to and what’s coming next.

We worked on our logo and name for our project over the weekend and came to the idea of Corbotics, with Cor being latin for Heart and Botics being short for robotics. We then designed the logo over the weekend and after discussion with the liaison and our classmates we decided on the design below:

We had our first liaison meeting this week and prior to the meeting we sat down together to map out an agenda for our first liaison meeting and brainstorm some solid questions to ask. Prior to the meeting we also checked in with our coach, Dr. Jackson, to get aligned and make sure we were prepared. After wrapping up the week with our first liaison meeting on 9/11, we got a clearer picture of the project scope and some helpful feedback.

Our next goals are to finish and submit our Product Design Specifications. Catch up again with both our coach and liaison to share updates and figure out next steps. Keep digging into background research especially around Varipulse, material choices, and how to handle the bimanual wire manipulation process. 

We’re feeling good about our progress so far and the project is on schedule!

That’s it for Week 3. We’re excited to keep the momentum going as we move into Week 4. Stay tuned!

Hey Everyone! Our team is very excited to be working on this year’s IPPD project with Johnson & Johnson – Biosense Webster. Our project aims to design and prototype a bimanual wire manipulation tool for micro-assembly.

So far this week we got a chance to:

• Introduce ourselves to each other and got the information from the SOW.
• Review the scope of work and contact both our coaches and liaison.
• Draft our first memo and send it over for approval with our coach Phillip Jackson.
• Plan our upcoming meeting with company liaisons David Rivera and Joyeeta Mukherjee, who will be our main technical contacts throughout the year.

Over the next eight months, we’ll dive into researching state of the art robotic precision techniques, simulating solutions with digital twins, and prototyping a system that can handle the complexity of micro assembly tasks.

We are excited to learn more about the project and gain some skills while developing as professional engineers.