An interdisciplinary team of graduate students Kim Hallett (Human Factors Eng ’19), James Aronson (Mechanical Eng ’18, Innovation & Management ’19) and MJ Craig (Occupational Therapy ’20) with Cameron Taylor (MIT, PhD Biomechatronics) took home first place in usability at the 2019 MIT Assistive Technology (AT) Hack-a-thon. Their portable bidet, affectionately named The Bom-bidet, was designed with a co-designer who needs to use the bathroom in her workplace independently.

The team met for a few pre-hack meetings and placed an Amazon order that largely consisted of bidets, water guns, and tubing designed for home brewing in preparation for the event. The team presented their solution to judges after 11 hours of hacking. They also provided an Instructables, so other people could replicate the design.

Features include:

-9 inch long nozzle for easy access to those hard to reach places

-32 oz water tank providing 35 seconds of continuous pressurized water

-Single hand grip with right or left hand accessed push button (the water flow stops once released) 

-Kill switch on the water bottle to prevent accidental activation

-Wrist strap to allow the user hands free transport

-8 AA battery pack to allow for portability

This is the second time Tufts students have placed first at the annual MIT AT Hack, with last year’s winning design, CiPods and CiPids Wireless, a device to allow people with a cochlear implant to use ear buds.