Design Summary & Analysis (Edited)

Subject: Design Summary & Analysis (Edited)

In the article “It's 2019 - Where’s My Super Suit”, Zelik (2019) addresses the significant and unique features of the exoskeleton made by his team as well as brief descriptions of current commercial versions of exoskeletons. The main function of an exoskeleton is to reduce the risk of muscular injuries. However, modern designs do not appeal to the public because they are cumbersome and costly. Zelik endeavours to improve upon the modern designs with a few distinct features. To begin with, his exoskeleton design has a “clothing-like” appearance that consist of a vest, short, elastic bands and a switch. The design also allows the user to move “freely and fully’ by turning off the suit using the outfitted switch. On top of that, the absence of batteries, motors and protruding parts provides a lightweight and seamless design. The writer asserts that laboratory tests have verified turning on the suit will reduce substantial loading on the lower back. Lastly, Zelik (2019) has a dream that one day exoskeletons will be as commonplace and irreplaceable as smartphones today. It is evident that the writer’s strategy of employing simple designs conforming to the public standards and convenience is an extremely effective approach for any product to be popular.

Simplicity and conformity in designs are very important factors for the popularity of any technology. The current public impressions of exoskeletons are bulky, heavy, difficult to wear and cause discomfort. Simple designs that conform to usual clothing standards will change this impression. The exoskeleton suit “Spexor” created by an EU research project from Slovenia will emphasize the undesirable situation due to the current designs of exoskeletons (Wilks, 2019). The “Spexor” is a 6.3 kilo suit that is designed to arrest any lower back pain and assist those with ongoing lower back issues. Developers have commented that testing with the “Spexor” indicates that it is “too wide and bulky” and that the leading issue would be persuading workers without any health issues to use it. Updating the “Spexor” design to be simpler and conforming would encourage workers to use it regularly and this concept can be adapted to different exoskeletons as well.

The exoskeleton is not the first product to be unpopular due to its heavy and bulky design. Early version of the cell phone was unpopular as well due to its heavy and bulky design which was described to be “as large as modern day computers and just as heavy” (Ray, 2015). As the cell phone’s design was improved to be lightweight enough to carry, it became a “pop culture symbol” and rose to popularity. Currently, everyone has a smart phone which is the successor of the cell phone. With the great benefits an exoskeleton can offer, it can be just as popular and irreplaceable if it continues on its direction to shed its bulky and heavy design.

Even though improving the design of the exoskeleton to be simpler and conforming to public standards and convenience is the priority, there must still be a balance between design and actual performance. Laptops are irreplaceable in the world and the current trend of laptop designs are to make it sleeker, thinner and lighter. These decisions may come at the cost of actual performance as there have been allegations that Apple laptop’s stated performance can only be reached if there is a sufficient cooling environment like a refrigerator (Owen, 2018). Exoskeletons are liable to be affected by this complication as well since its performance is often based on its size and mechanisms. 

In conclusion, the future of exoskeleton designs should conform to public desires which will drive the product to be popular and commonplace. However, there must be a good balance between design and performance as the main benefits and functions of an exoskeleton should not be excessively diminished for the sake of popularity and sales. 


References
Ray, A. (2015). The History and Evolution of Cell Phones.  https://www.artinstitutes.edu/about/blog/the-history-and-evolution-of-cell-phones

Owen, W. (2018). Thinner and lighter laptops have screwed us all. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kmkve/thinner-and-lighter-laptops-have-screwed-us-all

Wilks, J. (2019). New exoskeleton to beat low back pain. https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/30/new-exoskeleton-to-beat-low-back-pain

Zelik, K. (2019). It's 2019 - where’s my super suit.
https://theconversation.com/its-2019-wheres-my-supersuit-115679

Formal Letter (Descriptive Reflection) (Edited)

Subject: Self-Introduction (Edited)

Dear Professor Brad,

My name is Brandon Koh, and I hope this introduction letter will give you a glimpse of my life’s journey so far. I graduated from Singapore Polytechnic in 2013 with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. I signed on as an air force engineer in the Republic of Singapore Air Force in 2013 and left the force in 2019 in order to commence my degree in mechanical engineering at the Singapore Institute of Technology.

My interest in mechanical engineering started at a young age where I loved building Lego structures that could emulate human movement. My time in the air force dismantling and assembling helicopters daily deepened my interest further. Although work was grueling at times being able to tinker with complex mechanical parts was a dream come true.

I believe that one of my strengths regarding communication is that I am a confident speaker. While I was in the air force, clear communication was required to describe problems or defects to high ranking superiors which helped developed my confidence when speaking. My most significant communication weakness is that I reiterate myself often. I feel that I tend to reiterate often because I am afraid the important points of my message were not emphasized enough. Many of my peers have repeatedly informed me about this weakness and I really hope to fix this bad habit during this module.

Throughout my life, communications have always been a key component to success in many situations and being able to effectively communicate will always be a skill that is continuously evolving as there will always be room for improvement. My goals for this module are to rectify my weakness of reiterating often, further improve and refine my speaking skills and also to improve my vocabulary and grammar. I look forward to your guidance during the upcoming sessions.


Best Regards,
Brandon Koh

Critical Reflection

Subject: Critical Reflection

At the start of the trimester, I had two objectives in mind for this module. Firstly, to rectify my weakness of frequent reiteration and secondly to further improve and refine my speaking skills. In order to concurrently achieve both objectives, I have frequently volunteered to answer questions in class as well as volunteering as team leader for all assignments. Having to frequently answer questions placed a certain amount of stress on myself which has helped me to communicate thoughts and ideas in a more clear and concise manner. On top of that I made a conscious effect to not reiterate my thoughts while communicating as team leader for class exercises and graded assignments. I placed more emphasize in effective communication with my group members, ensuring that my message is always clear, concise and impactful. Improving the method of communicating with group members has significantly reduced the necessity and frequency of reiterating my points and also improved and honed my speaking skills. In order to further improve my communication skills, I believe I will need to join some events that require pitching of ideas such as the Mapletree challenge. Frequently pitching ideas to a large crowd will definitely improve my communication skills even further.

I took up the role of group leader in my research project and during this short period of time, I was surprised that I had weak teamwork skills. As the group leader, I felt that I had to put more time and effort into the project than anyone else. Observing the high level of cooperation and enthusiasm from group members during project discussions made me realize that I should depend more on my group members. After this realization I strived to put more trust in my group members and approached them more often when I had problems instead of struggling to solve them by myself. It was apparent that the project felt more enjoyable and relaxing when I shared the work load with the rest of my team. At the start of the project I believed that a leader with good teamwork skills should do more work and more planning while assigning less work to other members. After this project I learned that a leader with good teamwork skills will develop a group that is able to trust, cooperate and cover each other’s weaknesses naturally and seamlessly. Overall, I can say with great certainty that I will be a better leader for subsequent projects due to my experiences from this research project.