Purple Robot Blood

A few big hiccups have been tackled with the EEG-controlled drawing robot.

1.) We've built a wall! Greg had a good idea involving caster wheels, 80/20 and plywood. We have to make our own since we can't mount to the walls in the Cantor Center.

2.) Figured out a control scheme for the robot, which adjusts motor speed to get the pen to move as desired (and not along curves of the belt radii).

3.) Prototyped different drawing mediums.

This photo shows the wall half-built (on left), and the robot drawing on paper with charcoal. It drew a lot of stars before I fixed a bug to get it to draw circles...

4.) Prototyped painting methods, including paint markers and a syphoning IV of purple tempera paint. A tube carried paint from the suspended bottle to a hollow paintbrush at the robot end-effector (pen position).

5.) Made the robot move in spirals! This was getting to be quite a challenge, but I'm really happy we figured it out...

This image shows more progress on the wall, and the robot's IV drip.

Next, we have to figure out the best way to deal with the paint - getting the right viscosity to get the paint moving, but not make a watery colorful mess. Else, we'll settle for the paint pen with an actuator to keep it against the wall. The wall needs to be sanded, and the motors and electronics will be transfered to it. Most importantly, there will be integration of the brain control code with the spiral drawings.

Gia Đình Bùi: Mẹ và Con

Bùi Quang Nhat - Con cá
55cm x 46cm

Bùi Phan Thu - Mẹ
55cm x 46cm

Bùi Phan James - Con út
65cm x 54cm

Time Lapse of Final Painting

Here's a link to a time lapse of my final painting.

This is a piece of a man carrying a load of yogurt hanging from a bamboo stick (kind of like a primitive scale). I know it's hard to see, but I drew the pencil outline first. I am using colored pencils to finish it and hopefully it'll turn out well! I saw this man at the Boudhanath temple in Kathmandu and thought it would be interesting to show others.

Chang on Project Subject While in Papua

Change on Project Subject

I had thought the interactions between the doctors I was traveling with and the local patients would be the focus for my project, but after arriving, I was much more interested in just the subjects here. Every year the team is sent to Papua New Guinea to run clinic and educational curriculum with the local health workers then Dr. Murphy uses these experiences as insight when consulting with the government on PNG's national health plan. This year we were sent to Meline Bay to see what the best health care in the country is like. The doctors and staff that run the provincial hospital and rural health centers do a good job, despite the lack of supplies and facility.

I decided to focus on all of the people engaged in health care in Meline Bay rather than photographing the team at all. The patients, families, and doctors gave me a full picture of human disease and care in the province.

Patients

For thousands of years, people have been isolated because of rough terrain and impassible jungles. Throughout history, this helped over 800 languages develop in these isolated communities. In the modern day, rough terrain and lack of infrastructure continue to make getting around the country difficult. As a result many people get sick, then can not make it into the hospital until late presenting as much more complex cases.

Family

I was also interested in the wantans that make up Papua New Guinea's society. Wantans are extended family based on marriage and friendship that act as large extended families in Papuan culture connecting villages together. After getting to know the people around me, many of them told me about just how interconnected everyone was and after a quick look at the hospital verandas it is easy to see they are right. All of the patients here each have part of their family living with them until they get better. Family members have to travel long distances by foot, dingy, or public transport then camp out at the hospital and take care of their loved ones. They do not leave until the person they care for is treated. Throughout the stay the family members take turns caring for their patient, cook, clean, and do laundry. In ERs back home I see people come in a lot without a family member with them or the family member will leave for sometime. In PNG I felt the families were much more connected than back home. I decided to look at the family members that help care for their loved ones because they are an important component of the healing process for these patients.

Doctors

In the hospital and traveling to the rural health clinic I was able to observe and volunteer alongside some of the resident physicians. Despite lack of funding, poor facilities, and restricted lab testing, these doctors do so well. They rely on well-developed clinical skills and thorough reason to work through complex cases. Through nights out together getting dinner at the lodges, their houses, and our apartment I formed friendships with a few of these resident doctors. Besides being sociable and inviting, these people were just amazing. They completed an MD in a country that only graduates 60 students a year, some of them have started families, they all have a deep respect and care for their patients and each other, and all of them aspire to be leaders in directing the country's future health. I was grateful to get to know these people in the short time that I was there.

Facilities

The doctors did all of this with facilities in poor conditions and supplies sometimes short or nonexistent. The facilites contrasted with the beautiful landscape many of them were located in, especially the rural health outposts.