Project
For my six month placement at Tonus, I was tasked with developing prototypes and creating concepts. Tonus is a startup that uses wearable robotics to empower people with injuries or weakness. I worked in teams with a software engineer, an electrical engineer, a fashion designer and a physiotherapist to help develop a prototype leggings suit, a detailed CAD model, and an accompanying app wireframe.
Publicly-available work
Prototype
One of my tasks whilst working at Tonus, was to help create prototypes and develop hardware that would be used in their legging suit. This involved designing and iterating parts that would be used on the leggings, as well as researching and procuring components. In this task I worked in a team with an electrical engineer and a software engineer to develop a proof of concept semi-functional prototype to demonstrate the capabilities of concept.
Sensor Cover
I was tasked with developing a cover for sensors that would be placed along the leggings. This was the final design that was decided on after many iterations. The design has a presentable and discrete housing which could be easily 3D printed (the CAD model can be seen below).
Furthermore, this design allows for USB access to code the sensors, and an easy and hidden way to attach the sensor to the wires.
Wire Layout
Another task of mine was to plan the layout of how all the sensors would be connected with the wires along the legs, and to a hub at the back.
In the first photo is my plan for the layout, minimising cable and optimising structural integrity, this was a Lo-Fi prototype, so I used cardboard to act as the sensors, and stretchy fabric for the wires. In the second and third photos you can see this same layout but now with the wires and sensors on the prototype leggings, along with the sensor housing I designed.
Use Case
The prototype leggings that I had helped develop for Tonus proved very useful as they were able to show and explain the technology at fairs as can be seen in the photos below.
App
Alongside working on the leggings, I was tasked with designing the user flow and design of an accompanying app. The app would be used by a user whilst wearing the suit to track progress, and view data from the suit. The app must be simple enough to be used by someone with no physiotherapy knowledge, but also have detailed information available for trainers to look at. For this reason I was working in collaboration with a physiotherapist.
Development
To the right are some of the screens from the finished design of the app - after many iterations. The process involved looking at what data was coming from the suit, and turning this into easy to understand and informative infographics. App screens were then commented on by a physiotherapist to provide specific advice from a medical standpoint so that the user experience is optimal.
The process of developing the app screens, started with a basic design, with the aim of showing all the data and having a thought through user journey. The app was developed in Adobe XD, as it allowed for quick iterations, and the ability to quickly prototype how it would look. Iterations mostly focused on improving the user experience, for example removing unnecessary screens, and improving the statistics to be simple for a user, whilst also informative to a personal trainer. Refinements to the UI made the app more elegant and intuitive.
Use Case
The app wireframe that I developed for Tonus was to be used alongside the suit, to complement its functionality and allow for an improved user experience. Therefore, the app screens I developed proved very useful as a tool to explain the product Tonus is planning to create in marketing material.
As can be seen here on the right, Marianna the CEO of Tonus is giving a pitch about their products, and is using the app screens to explain the product ecosystem that will be developed.
CAD
A large project of mine was to create a CAD model of a ‘visionary’ pair of leggings to display the technology and explore how it could be implemented. To do this, firstly I conducted investigations in OpenSim, and spoke with physiotherapists to explore which muscle groups would benefit most from actuation, and what size/position/shape of actuator would work best. Then I worked in collaboration with a fashion designer to develop an attractive model whilst also being technically accurate.
Development
In this project, I was using the previous CAD model as a reference (shown below), however I was to build upon this as it is purely artistic not functional. My CAD model was to implement the actuator technology that Tonus wanted to use, and to find out how to implement elegantly into a pair of leggings. Firstly I researched using OpenSim, a muscle simulation software, as to which muscles were used most in a walking cycle, and the effect of these muscles. After speaking with a physiotherapist and determining where a common sites for injuries are, I used OpenSim to determine specifically which movement used the muscles of interest. From here I was able to include actuation across certain areas in OpenSim, and so was able to work out the best place for an actuator to decrease the use of these muscles.
From here I developed early CAD models based on the information gleaned from OpenSim. This was a very functional and effective prototype, but not aesthetically pleasing or designed with user experience in mind. Therefore, after this first model, I worked with a fashion designer to develop a second model which included all the required technology but in a way that was easy to use and also aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately at this time I am unable to share any of my work on this project.
The work in this portfolio belongs to Louis Cutner. Please do not print/copy without prior permission. Some of the samples within this portfolio are the property of Tonus. Permission for each has been granted for this portfolio to be used as a demonstration of my work. Educational copyright laws have been followed in all project samples.
