COLIBRI - BITE OPERATED MOUTH STICK FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

Updated: Jan 26, 2022

Colibri is a modular platform creating a set of tools activated by bite mouth-stick for individuals which are paralyzed from the neck down. The tools are composed of 2 parts, a kit transforming the bite to a mechanical movement 3D printed in SLS, and open source parts, that can be printed on any home printer, creating various end tools.

*patent pending

This complex, yet elegant bite-operated grabber extends the mobility and independence of people with disabilities.

Core Unit Transforming the Bite Motion to a Mechanical Movement

Push Mechanism allow to create simple Assembly

Assembly Fast and Simple - Plug & Play

USES SUGGESED

This project allow playing board games and gardening, they may not answer necessary daily needs but trigger imagining a wider range of actions.

DESIGN SUMMARY

This colibri project started at the San Fransisco bay area, TOM Tikkun Olam Makers makeathon in 2015,for Kim Lathrop. In the short period of the makeathon we developed a well-working prototype, of the bite-operated tool. However, this period is too short to make a working product with ergonomics and mechanical aspects.

As a result, I decided to make the next version during my bachelor's graduate project called Colibri. Colibri got the "Best Design" award from Bezalel academy of art and design and patent-pending mechanisms.

This project took more than a vary intensive year, Although, I will summy this project with the design thinking stages of: Frame a Question, Gather Inspiration, Generate Ideas, Make Ideas Tangible, Test to Learn.

Someday I maybe will write my perspective on marathons, but if you like to know more about marathons, I like this detailed article of - Piotr Kuklo on makeathons
Short video about the "Grabber" creation - link
The first phase of bite operated tool - the "Grabber" on TOM Tikkun Olam Makers official website - link

FRAMING

Born without limbs, Kim operates her daily tasks by mouth and struggles to grab objects outside of her reach. Kim showed us passive mouth sticks that are usually used to push buttons and move objects that are used usually by people with disabilities. However, Kim asked for some active devices that will be used by her mouth, as an extension and showed us the "grabber" tool that is used to extend hand functionality for a variety of tasks. The main challenge is that all traditional grabbers are designed for hand operation, and requires a large amount of gripe force.

Framing of this project was to make an "active mouth operation device"

GATHER INSPIRATION

Aiming to design "the right thing", I made wide research of hand-operated tools, Minimally Invasive Surgical Tool, Mouth operation tools/mechanisms/devices etc.

During the research, I interviewed dentists and oral and maxillofacial surgeon experts to observe all possible impacts of this device on users' mouths and a variety of possible users with different abilities. Also, wide research, including observation made on quadriplegics that uses mouth rods.

Although, the main inspiration in this project was the Colibri bird (AKA hummingbird). That was the perfect vision of this project, having a unique and disproportionate beak with a complex fluid trap mechanism, Yet, having a gentle and noble appearance.

Fluid trap mechanism - https://www.pnas.org/content/108/23/9356

IDEATION

From the functional aspect, this system should be a modular platform to able the user to replace the end units for the specific need, and at the same time to be safe and comfortable to use in the mouth.

And in perspective of uses, I decided to focus on playing board games and gardening. Thous activities may not necessarily answer daily needs but trigger the imagining in a wider range of activities that disabled person desires to do, in contrast to activities they expected to do.

TANGIBLE - PROTOTYPE

The prototyping and design processes are focused on a variety of aspects;

Design insperation

Textures and materials inspiration for the bite operation part

Examining how a person operates and feels like while using thin objects only by the mouth

This tool is used by one of the most sensitive parts of the body and should feel comfortable for the user, although, the user is also always under surrounding observation, and should feel comfort of "how Its look from the outside" while using this tool.

This is an inspiration for objects that looks and feel like desirable objects that interact with the mouth.