Dog Treat Dispenser for Wheelchair User Client

Our client, a wheelchair user with limited mobility, aimed to develop a device that could dispense a single dog treat to their service animal upon completing each task. Initially, my team conducted user interviews and a comprehensive analysis to identify the top 10 user needs, which we later expanded to the top 20 requirements. Throughout the development process, we encountered various trade-offs, such as budget constraints that prevented us from utilizing FDA-approved silicone materials.

As the lead for mechanism development, SolidWorks drawings, 3D printing, and iterative prototyping, I encountered several challenges. The irregular and nearly round shapes of dog treats, coupled with their varying sizes, posed significant obstacles. My first sliding mechanism design failed to accommodate the diverse treat shapes, as some treats did not fit through the dispensing hole or fell through vertically instead of horizontally.

To address these issues, I enlarged and deepened the hole size. However, this modification led to another problem: multiple treats fell through simultaneously, violating our client's requirement for dispensing only one treat at a time. To resolve this, I incorporated a sloped surface on the slider, allowing excess treats to be pushed aside during the sliding motion.

While not perfect, the final mechanism is portable and easy to operate using a pinching motion, aligning with our top user priorities. I look forward to further refining and improving this mechanism in future iterations.