1.7 KiB
Failure Modes of Extremely Expensive Wooden Buttocks
Recently I have begun hosting a poker game. Poker is a beautiful game, as it connects people in conversation that is fulfilling and informative, as people discuss their life experiences. At my poker game, I learned about a somewhat comical cyber-physical system failure. A player at my poker game is a bioengineer who interned at Pitt's Wheelchair and Cushion Standards Group. She was responsible for configuring an immersion testing fixture to perform evaluations for a set of wheelchair cushions. She did not engineer the control program for the automated testing fixture, but soon found out one of her first days that the control program had a destructive mode of operation that was not intended.
Alex sought out the position at the Wheelchair and Cushion Standards Group as an summer internship that was conveniently located in the East Liberty neighborhood. Her job would be multifaceted: as part of a small laboratory group, he responsibilities would change upon the day and she would be expected to wear many hats. One of her first tasks was running experiments on sets of wheelchair cushions using an expensive test fixture.
Wheelchair cushions are a surprisingly sophisticated device, and far from only a piece of foam. Wheelchair cushions are critical for users who spend a large amount of time in their wheelchair, and an effective cushion can play a significant role in the overall health of the user. Cushions redistribute the weight of a wheelchair user evenly across their buttocks, while an insufficient cushion can create problems for wheelchair-bound individuals including ulcers, posture issues,