Publicação
Design and development of an anti-fall cane prototype
| Resumo: | Fall-related events represent a major public health problem, where death is among the consequences of these accidents. Also, hospitalization and associated costs keep rising. Thus, the development of a pre-impact fall detection system capable of fall avoidance is essential to reduce or even eliminate fall events. Some advances have been made regarding these systems, but there is no commercially available solution capable of avoiding the fall. Also, the number of cane users has been growing steadily for the last two decades. Therefore, this thesis aims to address this market opportunity, by developing a cane with a built-in pre-impact actuator, creating an anti-fall cane. This dissertation followed a product design and development method, with the main objective of increasing the usability, acceptability, and chances of success, in general, of the concept and potential product. In the first stage, a total of 12 primary needs and 33 secondary needs were identified, categorized, and classified, in terms of relative importance. Effectiveness, reliability, safety, height, ergonomy, and weight were the most important needs. Transforming these needs into measurable terms, a set of target specifications was set. These take the input of the consumer and guide the remainder of the development effort. Using international standards, and other useful resources, the 12 primary needs were translated to 18 metrics, each with a specific unit, and associated importance and value. To tackle the needs and meet the specifications, concepts need to be created, scored, and selected. To better address this complex problem, a functional structure for the anti-fall cane was developed. This allowed the identification and selection of the critical subproblem, the balance recovery of the user. Thus, concepts were generated and scored. The selected concept was the rolling cane, a powered omnidirectional wheel platform. Finally, with the final concept selected, analytical tools were deployed to encounter the best solutions for the proposed features. Every component was dimensioned and proposed. Furthermore, simulations, such as load, separation, and fatigue tests successfully validated the prototype. Also, using the P1 tripod, offered by ORTHOS XXI, it was possible to fabricate an exoskeleton of the anti-fall cane, which will incorporate all the features developed analytically. |
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| Autores principais: | Durães, Rúben José Lopes |
| Assunto: | Anti-fall cane Consumer need ISO Specifications Simulations Bengala anti-queda Necessidades do consumior Especificações Simulações Engenharia e Tecnologia::Engenharia Médica |
| Ano: | 2021 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso restrito |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | Fall-related events represent a major public health problem, where death is among the consequences of these accidents. Also, hospitalization and associated costs keep rising. Thus, the development of a pre-impact fall detection system capable of fall avoidance is essential to reduce or even eliminate fall events. Some advances have been made regarding these systems, but there is no commercially available solution capable of avoiding the fall. Also, the number of cane users has been growing steadily for the last two decades. Therefore, this thesis aims to address this market opportunity, by developing a cane with a built-in pre-impact actuator, creating an anti-fall cane. This dissertation followed a product design and development method, with the main objective of increasing the usability, acceptability, and chances of success, in general, of the concept and potential product. In the first stage, a total of 12 primary needs and 33 secondary needs were identified, categorized, and classified, in terms of relative importance. Effectiveness, reliability, safety, height, ergonomy, and weight were the most important needs. Transforming these needs into measurable terms, a set of target specifications was set. These take the input of the consumer and guide the remainder of the development effort. Using international standards, and other useful resources, the 12 primary needs were translated to 18 metrics, each with a specific unit, and associated importance and value. To tackle the needs and meet the specifications, concepts need to be created, scored, and selected. To better address this complex problem, a functional structure for the anti-fall cane was developed. This allowed the identification and selection of the critical subproblem, the balance recovery of the user. Thus, concepts were generated and scored. The selected concept was the rolling cane, a powered omnidirectional wheel platform. Finally, with the final concept selected, analytical tools were deployed to encounter the best solutions for the proposed features. Every component was dimensioned and proposed. Furthermore, simulations, such as load, separation, and fatigue tests successfully validated the prototype. Also, using the P1 tripod, offered by ORTHOS XXI, it was possible to fabricate an exoskeleton of the anti-fall cane, which will incorporate all the features developed analytically. |
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