FADS (Fish Anesthesia Delivery System)
Client: Undisclosed aquarium
Duration: 01/2012 – 06/2012
This provides an example of my process for human-centered design: understand, create, implement.
Understand.
While a surgeon operates, three veterinary specialists use water tubs with different anesthetic concentration to stabilize the fish's breathing rate. One monitors breathing rate, one controls water flow rate, and another prepares a backup syringe.
Create.
Talking through the low-fidelty concept storyboards and sketches with the Shedd staff provided a clear direction: a mobile, multi-tank system. Alternative concepts included a continuously variable anesthetic concentrator, but this element introduced excessive uncertainty for the surgeons.
Implement.
Now, veterinarians at the aquarium sedate their fish with the 'FADS'. They select the tank they want to use by pushing the matching button, and the arduino microcontroller, solenoid valves, and peristaltic pump do the rest.
The FADS was featured on:
2) The Northwestern McCormick News website