Dr. Crowthers teaches STEM II.
In STEM II, we work in groups on our assistive technology (AT) projects. My teammates were Venkat, Shuling, and Sumanth. Putting together our project, TrustFall, was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun! You can read more about it below.
Problem
Our goal was to address the problem of hip injuries in older adults. We wanted to create a project to protect against hip injuries because not only do hip fractures result in 300,000 hospitalizations each year, but they also increase the risk of subsequent hip fracture by 150% and significantly impact independence and overall quality of life. Hip fractures become more likely with age, though most elders do not use hip protectors due to uncomfortable designs or concerns of social stigma. Thus, we wanted to make a comfortable and discrete protective device to encourage the implementation of hip protection, especially amongst older adults.
Design Approach and Prototype
Our approach was to design a device to protect the hips in the event of a fall. Our device would detect a fall using machine learning, then deploy airbags to cushion the fall. Our prototype places an airbag at each hip, with a pouch in front for the safe storage of other elements of the device, such as the Arduino, accelerometer, and CO2 canisters. More information about Trustfall can be found in the documents below.
Stem II Fair Poster
Instructions Manual
Design Studies Document