Project Objective

Evaluate existing bedwarmer prototype and develop a design as close to production ready as possible with upgraded features within a $300 budget by June 9th, 2017.

Team

• Amie Leon
• Anh Ngo
• Caitlynn Holmes
• Chris Kunke
• Yingyi Wu

Customer/Market Requirements

One symptom of restless leg syndrome is poor circulation which results in chilly feet. Some patients become so uncomfortable that they cannot sleep. A foot warming chamber can alleviate these symptoms and improve their quality of their life. The team was shown a prototype built by our sponsor and has taken steps to improve the design to make it more marketable and user friendly.

Requirements:

• Structure must create a chamber that lifts the blankets off the feet.
• Chamber must heat up quickly.
• Heating device must be quiet so as not to disrupt sleep.
• Chamber must maintain heat during the night.

Design Challenges

The biggest challenge was to balance user safety with bed warmer performance to meet the client requirements.

Safety Parameters:

• The chosen heater will have an automatic shut-off feature already installed that will shut off the heater before it can overheat and cause a fire. The team will add an extra layer of thermal protection that will cause the heater to shut off at a cooler temperature than the built-in temperature.

• The heater will be capable of alerting the user of overheating status.

• The structure will be built in such a way that the heater placement does not cause the surrounding materials to feel hot when touched.

• The heater will be accessible to the user for maintenance and cleaning (because dust buildup can cause overheating inside the heater).

Outcomes

The team has settled on a design concept that creates a table that can be slid over the back of a bed to create a chamber. This design allows the unit to be portable and used for other purposes if desired by the end user. The final unit will be built out of plywood, which is within budget, but recommendations for an appropriate material for mass manufacturing will be provided in the end documentation. The final design will also contain a thermostat with controller to allow the user to adjust the temperature settings as desired, and will be adjustable in height to accommodate different bed sizes and user preferences.