Ariela Warticovschi
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Elliott Rouse
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Mechanical Engineering / Engineering
Program: UROPF
Session: Session 2 (10:00am – 10:50am)
Authors:
Abstract
A research project started to make an Open-Source Prosthetic leg, throughout the process flaws were discovered and the leg needed to be improved. Researchers and amputees will use this leg for different purposes. For this reason, the electrical connections in the leg and the parts used need to be changed in order for there to be a variety of uses for the leg. We worked with two different actuators, Dephy and T-Motor, that control the leg and our goal was to transition from one to the other. The Open Source Leg is made for people all around the world, but Dephy only ships actuators and customized cables within the United States. Dephy also uses flimsy and sensitive wires that break easily when used. Dephy also customizes a lot of their products meaning that every change they make, we also have to make a change to our code which causes conflicts and miscommunication between us and our clients. Our main goals are to make it easier for clients to build and use the leg and to make the leg accessible for the most clients we can. Transitioning to T-Motor made the leg more affordable and flexible to use for clients. With the T-Motor the client can change the torque of the actuator, but with Dephy clients need to buy different actuators for different torque. Aside from changing the actuator, we are also changing the placement of certain parts of the leg in order to avoid leg malfunctions. I have also been working on the format of the website in order to make the steps to build the leg easier to follow. The new changes to the Open Source Leg will allow more researchers and amputees to use the leg and will make it easier for everyone.
