On October 26th our group presented our current progress and our plans moving forward. We began the presentation by discussing the amount of care kittens require.
Kittens need to be hand fed multiple times throughout the day, which can be quite time consuming for the volunteers and staff. In addition to feeding, neonatal kittens cannot constrict their skin blood vessels. This means they cannot maintain their body temperature. Kittens can also suffer from fading kitten syndrome as a result of maternal neglect, which can lead to death.
Although we seek to create a device capable of providing all of the necessary care to the kittens, the requirements of the users must also be taken into consideration. Regardless of our device’s capabilities, the kittens will still require around the clock care. In order to simplify the task of caring for the kittens at night, the device must be easily portable. The device also needs to be durable enough to handle litters of kittens clawing at the interior while still providing a soft, comfortable environment. In addition to durable, our device needs to be easily cleanable. Our device also needs to alert the volunteers after kitten feedings.
Our group then created a use flow diagram to help guide our brain storming.
Looking forward, we will be meeting to further discuss final prototype decisions. We will then be meeting with our project partners at the Richardson Animal Shelter to narrow down our selections and come up with a few possible designs.