P08003: Portable Obstacle Course

Establish Target Specifications

Step 1. Prepare the List of Metrics

The table below presents the metrics, or engineering specifications, that will be used by the team to design against.

**List of Metrics**
Metric No.	Metric	Importance	Units
1	Fatigue Life/Product Life	3%	Years
2	Storage Dimensions	1%	Feet
3	Stiffness of Surfaces	4%
4	Sharp Edges	8%
5	Height of Obstacle to Step Over	6%	Inches
6	Coefficient Friction	5%	Value
7	Material Strength	6%	Value
8	Time of Operation on Power Supply	1%	Minutes
9	Length & Width of Course	3%	Feet
10	Weight	3%	Pounds
11	# of Parts	3%	Parts
12	Time (assembly/disassembly)	6%	Minutes
13	# of surfaces found in everyday life	5%	# of Surfaces
14	# of obstacles found in everday life	5%	# of Obstacles
15	# of skill levels	1%	# of Levels
16	Range Length of Surfaces	1%	Feet
17	Maximum Dimensions of Obstacles	1%	Feet
18	Time for moving parts to shutoff	4%	Seconds
19	# of Colors	5%	# of Colors
20	Cost	4%	Dollars
21	Time for System Ready-state	4%	Seconds
22	Response Time for System	4%	Seconds
23	Training time for System use	5%	Minutes
24	# of Parameters Tracked	10%	# of Parameters
25	Time it takes to print	0%	Minutes
26	Size of Print-out	2%	Inches
27	Dimensions of Printer/Processor	1%	Inches

Results for Establishing Specifications can be found in our Quality Function Matrix.

Benchmark 1: One solution to benchmark against is the current setup at the Nazareth PT Clinic. Obstacle courses are created by randomly tossing available objects such as crutches, canes, or umbrellas on the tile floor. This allows for training on only one surface and the obstacle placement is not repeatable or recordable.
Benchmark 2: Another solution that has been created is an obstacle course created at the Memorial VA Medical Center in Little Rock, AR. This obstacle course is used for assessing and training balance and mobility in elderly patients to prevent falls and injuries. This obstacle course is documented in "The Obstacle Course: A Tool for the Assessment of Functional Balance and Mobility In the Elderly" by Kevin M. Means, MD, and "Modifying a functional obstacle course to test balance and mobility i the community" by Kevin M. Means, MD and Patricia S. O'Sullivan, EdD.