Posted on by rstern7

Adjustable Shoe – Blog Post #1

Project Title: Adjustable Shoe

Project Team: Rachel Stern

Project Description:

  • Professional wear shoe that has a heel that changes height. The user can adjust the heel at 0.5” increments from a flat shoe (0.75” heel and 0.5” platform) to a high heel (4” heel and 1” platform).

Sketches/Concept Art

Materials and Costs

  • Heel
    • Concentric funnels
      • Original Prototype: 3D Printed Plastic: $2.50/part + $0.49/material cm3
      • Once the design is finalized, parts will be reordered, likely in titanium; decision pending final cm3 as this will determine overall cost.
    • Dual-Direction Rotator and Motor: TBD based on final material selection.
  • Platform
    • Rubber sole
      • 3D Printed Plastic: $2.50/part + $0.49/material cm3
    • Rechargeable (via USB) battery
      • Lithium Ion Polymer Battery – 3.7v 500mAh – $7.95
    • Bluetooth receiver
      • Adafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit LE – $29.95
      • Feather Stacking Headers – 12-pin and 16-pin female headers – $1.25
    • Shoe Shell
      • The portion will be created with found parts and fabric that I own. The approximate cost of these items was $20.

 

Timeline (*short timing to allow for extra time to be added in weeks that require it)

  • w/o 2/27: Finish CADs for concentric dual-sided threaded rings and order 3D prints.
  • w/o 3/6: Determine proper motor and rotation mechanisms to operate heel movement; order and test parts.
  • w/o 3/13: Build platform elements and test functionality: battery and charging housing in upper platform and movement track for lower platform.
  • w/o 3/20: Build shoe skeleton using heel and platform prototypes and found materials.
  • w/o 3/27: Incorporate Bluetooth technology to operate heel movement.

Fallback Plans

  • Lower the overall height of the heel/ platform to reduce cost and possible structural issues.
  • Change heel to platform to resolve any design issues.