What is the Smart Crutch?
The Smart Crutch is another project resulting from the UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering course “Designing for the Human Body.” For this final project, every team was required to work with a client, and was given a $1000 budget to produce a prototype meeting the client’s needs.
In this case, we worked with an INCREDIBLE client who wanted a device that could assist and improve their gait, or walking, cycle. For years following their accident, which left one of our client’s legs in a paralyzed state, they have been using crutches to maneuver around. The problem with using the stereotypical crutch was that the pair did not provide our client with the stability and comfort they required. As a result, our client would fall every so often due to their inability to tell whether the placement of the two crutches would support their weight. Thus, our group came up with the “Smart Crutch,” which involves the utilization of haptic feedback prior to every step taken by our client.
How does it work?
Unlike normal crutches, the “Smart Crutch” adheres to the client’s body using cushioned Velcro straps. This is to provide complete stability to our client, and to allow our client to further engage their working leg’s muscles (prior to trying on our crutch, our client was accustomed to swinging their whole body forward when using regular crutches).
We also included a pressure sensor underneath the base, a small vibrating motor in the handle of the crutch, and an Arduino to allow the two to “communicate.” The pressure sensor was programmed so that when a certain threshold value was reached, it would elicit an “on” response from the vibrating motor. When our client felt a gentle vibration in the handle, they knew that the crutch was stable and that it was safe enough for them to take a step forward.
Who made it?
The “Smart Crutch” was built by the same team from my[o]wn!