Body weight Support System for Patients with Walking Disabilities

The human ability to walk plays an important role in our daily routine, without it a person?s life is greatly affected. There can be various causes for these disabilities. As it is pivotal to daily life, thus different techniques have been used for the rehabilitation of these disabilities. The tradi

Project Title

Body weight Support System for Patients with Walking Disabilities

Project Area of Specialization

Robotics

Project Summary

The human ability to walk plays an important role in our daily routine, without it a person’s life is greatly affected. There can be various causes for these disabilities. As it is pivotal to daily life, thus different techniques have been used for the rehabilitation of these disabilities. The traditional way to treat them is to carry out physical therapies. Modern ways include the use of auotmated technology in the process of rehabilitation. Numerous researches have been carried out in this domain to improve gait rehabilitation. Several devices i.e. Human body weight unloading machines, Body Weight Support (BWS) systems, etc. have been designed and introduced in the market following the advancement in the specified technology. In the market different kinds of BWS systems are available depending upon their specifications. In this project, a technique has been proposed to develop a cost-efficient body weight support system. Its purpose will be to reduce the load on lower limb muscles of patients by supporting a specific percentage of thier total body weight.

Project Objectives

(a) Design and Development of a low cost BWS system that can support a specified percentage of body weight for rehabilitation of patients with walking disabilities.
(b) Development of a code to execute the working of BWS system and Implementation of the model using suitable controller.
(c) Evaluation of system on patients.
 

Project Implementation Method

Steps for Development of Active Dynamic BWS System:
Following steps are to be followed for development of active
dynamic BWS System,
1) First, develop the 3D model in Solidworks.
a) Basic structure in Solidworks.
b) Using a 3D model of peripheral parts proposes a combined model in Solidworks.

2) Then required hardware will be procured. All the hardware
will be based upon calculations that will include torques
forces acting and the frictional forces.
3) Assemble the hardware according to the proposed model.
4) Propose a controller algorithm for constant unloading.

5) Calibrate the system according to proposed algorithm on
the proposed model to achieve constant weight unloading.
6) Finally testing and verification of the results will be carried
out.

Benefits of the Project

(a) Beneficial for people with walking disabilities due to accidents as well as neurological diseases i.e. Spinal cord injuries,Gullain-Barre syndrome, Parkinson disease etc.

(b) A product will be developed that can be commercialized even on an industrisl scale .This product can have great market value as it will be low cost and indigenous.

(c) Step towards development and advancement of rehabilitation technology in Pakistan.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

A BWS system consists of,

1. Series Elastic Actuators
2. Ropes
3. Harness
4. Pulleys
5. Spring
6. Linear encoder
7. Bearings
8. Motor
9. Controller

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Parameter Value

1. Stroke                                     1 m
2. Output Force                          600 N
3. Force sensing resolution        0.3 N
4. Velocity control bandwidth      12 Hz
5. Force control bandwidth             
6.                                   9.5 Hz (20 N-Low Force)

                                             6.5 Hz (250 N -  Moderate Force)
                                             4.0 Hz (500 N - high Force)

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Medical

Other Industries

Manufacturing

Core Technology

Robotics

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com