Team Spinner

Problem Statement

We feel that if we can make the spinner for Shawn, then it will replace the medications and therefore if he is getting too hyper, then he spins the spinner and calms down. In the United States of America, the number of young people with ADHD continues to trend upwards. According to the Center for Disease Control, better known as the CDC, approximately 11% of people between the age of four and seventeen have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. One of these kids is Shawn Rowe. Shawn is a young, energetic student at Garnet Valley High School. Since he has ADHD, he has a difficult time on focusing. In order to reduce the effects of the hyperactivity disorder, he must take medicine every day. Without medicine, staying on task is difficult for anyone with ADHD, especially in school. The problem is, the medicines are not flawless. While the safety of drugs used to treat ADHD is not known for sure, there are some potential risks and red flags. Since medicines for the disorder are stimulants, it is possible for the user to develop an addiction to the medicine. It could also potentially stunt or slow growth in the user, and the medicine is sometimes shared with other people who do not have ADHD. In order to reduce the amount of medicine Shawn has to take, a spinner device will be created for Shawn to have in order to help him pay attention so he does not have to use as much medicine. According to a new study published in The Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, researchers found that when students with ADHD were asked to perform a task that involved working memory and organization, those who were allowed to move or fidget did significantly better than those who were asked to keep still. If he starts to lose focus, he can begin to use the spinner and stay on task.

Brainstorming

Potential Designs - Triangular, 3 Sides, 5 Sides, 4 Sides, 2 Sides

Bearings - Hybrid Ceramic, Steel, Full Ceramic

Research

ADHD Research - Fidget Spinners are great for helping kids stay focused on projects and other tasks.

-Fidget spinners can help to combat bat habits or compulsions

-Fidget spinners have additional benefits for kids with ADD, ADHD, autism, and countless special needs applications

-Fidget spinners have numerous occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) applications

-Fidget spinners help with stress and anxiety relief

-Fidget spinners improve overall concentration and focus / attention to detail

-Fidgeting distracts a part of the brain that becomes bored so the other parts can pay attention to what we’re doing like reading, hearing, or seeing.

-Research shows a correlation between working with our hands and increased memory and creativity

Spinner Research - Get weight on the outside of the spinner as far away from the middle as possible.

-The bigger the object, the greater the force.

-The more the object weights the greater the force

-The greater the speed of rotation, the greater the outward force -The faster it rotates the greater the force

-If you move further out on the merry-go-round, you will have to exert a greater force to stay on.

-The heavier an object the greater amount of force it will take to get it started

Build

Originally, our spinner had 4 sides. Each arm had 1 large ball bearing, 1 medium-sized ball bearing, and 1 small ball bearing.

Unfortunately, this spinner was destroyed overnight and our group decided to rethink our design and improve our time.

The design we came up with was very similar, except with another arm. Now, the spinner had 5 arms, meaning there is more weight on the spinner. We were careful not to add too much weight.