Community Meeting (May 23, 2018): Laboratory Assistive Devices - Collaboration & Distribution

Description

Presenter: Ronald Song

Notes

• Purpose of project

  • Started as a maker project for 4th year thesis for automation

  • potential for a11y needs

  • Want to make it low cost and based on open source technology

• Basic problem

  • the lab equipment often aren't accessible

    • e.g. small, slippery, small/hard to read labels, etc.

  • the producers of the equipment are most concerned with precision and accuracy

    • assumes an able bodied individual

  • Need to retrofit the equipment, e.g. using a magnifying glass

  • Existing accessible equipment is very expensive

  • You could also hirer a lab assistant to run the experiments, however, the question is whether or not the student is actually learning, because they can only observe.

• Maker Revolution

  • parts tend to be inexpensive, flexible, and open source

• Universal Design in Chemistry

  • Most experimental procedures are designed for able students

  • Needs a paradigm shift from learning through physically doing to allow automation

    • e.g. turning a knob on a piece of equipment → interacting with something to adjust the setting on the equipment

    • The learning experience doesn't necessarily come from turning the knob, but from analyzing the data