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This is a design project of senior industrial engineering students sponsored by the General & Age Related Disabilities Engineering (GARDE) Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) focusing on adults with disabilities. In today’s market, systems designed for helping caretakers in the process of seating or helping clients to standing positions are not designed for portability or comfort. Current systems are bulky, need an electrical input for them to work, are expensive, and are not designed for portability. Need for affordable and portable systems that meet the purposes already described are on the rise, given that as caretakers take on more strenuous tasks they are more prone to spinal injuries related to the incorrect movements and/or use of excessive force when taking care of clients with mobility problems. The main objective of this project is the creation of a system capable of lessening the amount of stress a caretaker takes into his or her body at the moment of helping a patient to a seating or standing position. The second objective is to lessen the impact stress that the patient’s body receives when seating, given that most patients throw themselves into the seat or the caretaker is unable to support their weight when lowering them. The project’s success will be defined on being capable of designing a portable, economic, and fully mechanical system to help in this task taking into consideration ergonomics, cost, portability, and other parameters. The system usefulness will be measured by a series of interviews to patients with mobility problems, caretakers and experts in the area of mobility, including doctors and physical therapists. Analysis will also be validated with real time tests on functional prototypes of the system. The expected delivery of the device is by the end of the Spring 2017 semester.
Author(s):
Manuel-Jose Perez-Vargas
Mechanical Engineering
University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez
Puerto Rico
Grexarie Torres-Caraballo
Mechanical Engineering
University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez
Puerto Rico
Nicole Mendez-Santos
Industrial Engineering
University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez
Puerto Rico
Joan Garcia-Torres
Industrial Engineering
University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez
Puerto Rico