Shedd Aquarium

Overview

The Shark Carrier was in response to shark caretakers at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago experiencing pain while performing medical procedures on sharks. The device seeks to support the weight of the shark while not impeding on the procedure.

Context

Senior Capstone

Skills

Observation

Prototyping

Design Research

User Research

CAD Modeling

Research

User Observation & Interviews

Over 3 hours of user observation.

Interviewed 4 members of the team.

And found two primary root issues to address during the project...

Supporting the weight of the sharks they are examining

Providing a comfortable height alternative to avoid lack of circulation in a kneeling position

Define

Iterating

Brainstorming

We explored two primary HMW questions...

How might we support the weight of the sharks to minimize the effort of the shark care takers caring for them?

How might we provide comfort and ease for shark caretakers to while doing a long term procedure in a kneeling position.

Small-Scale Prototyping

We small scale prototyped over 5 of our brainstormed ideas.

This process helped us identify weak points in multiple concepts.

Large-Scale Prototyping

We large scale prototyped a number of ideas across both the user-centered and shark-centered goals.

By prototyping the tub, we were able to test our shark-weight-supporting aspect of our project with limitations.

Solution:

We designed a two-part solution that enabled the caretakers to comfortably kneel at the tub side. We addressed each problem by...

Creating a mesh adjustable support that holds the weight of the sharks.

Stackable market kneeling boards to adapt to multiple care-takers variation in heights.

A holding net of PVC-coated mesh net safe for shark skin.

A belt that ratchet cinches around the tub with rubber backing to ensure the stability and height of the net.

6 nylon, vertical adjusting straps with plastic quick-release buckles to transfer tension to and from the anchoring belt.

Plastic on the market kneeling platforms with garden foam pads of caretaker's preference.