Jerry the Bear with Diabetes
Jerry the Bear is a stuffed mechatronic bear created by student group Design for America as a way to teach good insulin practices to children recently diagnosed with diabetes. Students have been working with professors at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science to bring Jerry to life using sensors, actuators, and a little bit of fur. He has injection ports where children can simulate insulin injections, and his mouth has a sensor that can sense when he’s being fed “glucose tablets.” He has blinking eyes – that get droopy when his blood sugar is low – and has speech capabilities to let his owner know when he isn’t feeling good and needs a shot of insulin. His glucose level reads out real-time on a screen on his wrist.
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