Assistive Tech Collaboration

Phan, Philip

Student Work

Assistive Tech Collaboration

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Manual dexterity complications within individuals prevent ease of access to technologies and navigating those technologies including mobile devices and laptops. Diseases such as arthritis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy are some that impair mobile dexterity. Solutions have been presented including electric wheelchairs, voice activated and controlled devices, and tongue-driven systems to help users navigate technologies essential to daily life. Puffin Innovations has presented a device, the Puffin, to allow users to connect a joystick via bluetooth to their mobile devices or computers to navigate the systems. By operating the joystick with the tongue, the individual can control the position of the mouse and what they want to select, as well as carry out functions such as pressing and holding the button for different outputs. The initial prototype utilizes an Adafruit nRF52840 to power and control the device. However, this system is not able to be brought to production due to the trademark of the Adafruit. By utilizing a STM32 microcontroller in conjunction with the Blue NRG-2, a production-level prototype is made in a more compact PCB. By utilizing CAD software as well as programming the microcontroller with an integrated development environment unlike the Arduino or Adafruit, the new device is a production-level prototype which will allow for further testing by the company to move towards the release phase of the product.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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