The helper is an assistive technology for a person with muscular dystrophy who can not pinch. It is composed of an arm and a controller. The controller is composed of 2 round objects the control the arm sided to side and around itself. The controller has 2 buttons one to open and close the grabber and a preset button that will bring the arm to bring object to the user.
This is The Helper
For the controller we used bowls because they would be easier to rotate with the palm of your hand.
We used big buttons to make it easier for the user who lack dexterity to push them.
The helper is controlled by two 360 potentiometer and two lighted big buttons.
Russ started with a cardboard mock up of how the grabber will operate.
Parts are in for the Grabber and Servo for the Arm.
The original design for the grabber the gears went on the outside, then mount for gear, then the axel. This did not let the axel spin 360 degrees.
We kept the main box clear any obstructions down to the rivets in order to have smooth movement for the Grabber.
This is the interim design that the grabber had. We mounted the axel on the inside which let the axel rotate 360 degrees.
This is the side view of the interim design for the grabber.
The required torque power for mounting to the rear of the Grabber was to great for our servo. We cut down the lifting force by mounting the arm closer to the center of the Grabber box.
In order for us to mount the arm in the center, we had to redesign the Grabber box to include a roof.
One stumbling block that we found was the Grabber was binding if drove it from only one side. We had to run a drive shaft to the other side so that they wheels rotated equally.
Quick test to see if the servo can lift the Grabber from it's new mounting point.
Originally we mounted the arm directly to servo. This put to much stress on center screw on the servo and flexed to much.
Pcomp Final – The Helper from Zeven Rodriguez on Vimeo.