STEM II is a long-term group project that begins in mid-C Term and ends D Term. The project focuses on assistive technology and engineering, where groups are able to choose a problem to be solved. Groups work with clients with the selected problem in developing a product that suits their needs.
A client at the Seven Hills Foundation has difficulty transferring themselves onto or out of their wheelchair due to the risk of losing their balance when standing, moving forward, and/or pivoting themselves.
My group and I initially came up with the idea of protecting the client during the fall process. However, we shifted our goal to the preventative side of falling rather than protecting the client from the fall. We initially came up with ideas for devices that would attach to a wheelchair, however after meeting with our client, we saw that the transfer process from the client's wheelchair to their bed utilized a guardrail, so we decided to make a device that would attach to the guardrail. With this, we came up with a design for a collapsible handle that connected to railings.
Our final prototype is shown below as multiple CAD model representations. The handle is a torus and is 3D printed and connected to a piece of wood. Another piece of wood is connected to a strip of metal and rail clamps. Both pieces of wood are then connected to a metal bracket which is what supports the device and is what allows for it to collapse.
