Prototype Inspection Day is right around the corner, and the team has been hard at work getting everything ready! This week we focused on bringing our concept closer to a working prototype and making sure each part of the system is ready to demonstrate. One big step was receiving the new motors we ordered, and we wasted no time putting them to the test. Below is a photo of the team testing out our prototype of the pump and measuring flow rate.

The team testing out prototype

Along with motor testing, the team has continued refining our designs and preparing the physical models we plan to show at inspection. We’re excited to share our progress, get feedback from our coach, liaison, and judges, and use what we learn to keep improving as we move into SLDR soon.

This week, the IrriGators continued developing our surgical irrigation project following our visit to Arthrex. We focused on refining our tube set locking mechanism to more closely resemble existing Arthrex products, using what we learned during our visit to guide our design decisions. We 3D printed an updated version of the catch mechanism to evaluate the design and take another step toward a functional prototype. We also held our regular team meetings, began planning the next steps for the mechanical design, and submitted additional purchase requests for components needed to move forward. As we continue developing our design, we’re excited to test our updated concepts and work toward a functional prototype.

This week, the IrriGators traveled to Arthrex headquarters in Naples, FL, to present our Preliminary Design Review to their engineers and project managers. Presenting to people with real-world experience was a great opportunity for our team. Their questions and input helped us pin down some of the finer details of our project, and their feedback showed us where our current plan is strong and where it still needs work. We also got a better sense of how our design choices hold up from an industry perspective. It was a productive visit, and we’re excited to take what we learned back to the lab and put it into action as we move into the next phase of the project.

Hello everyone! This week has been another amazing week for the Irrigators. We finished up our first draft of our PDR, and gave a presentation on it to other teams. We also got to listen to other teams present and learn about their projects. Overall, we are very happy with our performance on the presentation.

An exciting development is that our travel request was approved! We are heading to Arthrex’s site in Naples this Sunday afternoon. We will spend the night at a hotel, and then get to Arthrex early to have the full day. They have a tour planned for us, as well as showing us more about our project. Later in the day we will present to them our PDR and showcase some preliminary prototypes we have. We are all looking forward to the trip and meeting our liaison in person!

Hey everyone! This week has been another greet week for IrriGators as we work with Arthrex to design a pressure controlled modular pump for surgical irrigation

We have finalized our project roadmap and developed a Gantt chart to keep us on schedule. This week we began concept generation and started brainstorming some ideas and designs. We have also received some tube sets from our liaison to help guide our design and get a better understanding of what’s being asked of us. One member has already began designing prototypes.

We are currently working towards completing our Project Design Report and Preliminary Design Architecture. Our trip to Naples has been designated to October 5th, and we’ve already submitted a travel request that is pending approval. Thanks for keeping up with us!

Hey everyone! This week has been another productive week for IrriGators as we work with Arthrex on designing their pressure-controlled modular irrigation pump.

We have completed the Product Design Specifications and discussed specific user needs given by our liaison. We have made multiple changes to this document and also were recommended by our liaison to create a checklist document with our specs in short sentences to check our final design down the line. We also created a rough block diagram to break down how systems are going to interact with each other and divided up who on the team will control what system/design.

We are currently working towards completing our project roadmap and Project Design Report. We also are planning a trip to Naples to visit the site and communicate our progress to our liaison in person (upcoming hopefully in the next two weeks)! Thanks for keeping up with us!

This fall, we’re working with Arthrex to design a modular, pole-mounted irrigation pump for surgical use. It’s the kind of tool that doesn’t get much attention but makes a real difference in the OR, and surgeons need it to be reliable, efficient, and actually work. We’ll be sharing updates here and what we learn along the way. So stay tuned!