Individuals experiencing diminished leg strength often encounter difficulty performing the transition from a sitting to a standing position. A healthy adult will complete an average of sixty transitions per day, making it one of the most physically demanding tasks performed in day-to-day life. The septuagenarian population of the United States increased by 7% in fifty years, and as such the number of persons lacking the ability to successfully complete the Sit to Stand Transition (STST) has also been increasing. To address this growing need, this project designed and fabricated a portable, wearable, passive mechanism that can be mounted on an individual’s leg to provide an assistive knee extension moment during the STST. The final design is a spring-driven ratchet and cam system that stores the potential energy expended during sitting for usage during standing in order to deliver between 10 and 15 Newtons of lifting force. This mechanism serves as the prototype and proof-ofconcept for an eventual market-ready product.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Paul, Ethan N

Contributors

• Hoffman, Allen H.
• Sullivan, John M.

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-052617-104953

Advisor

• Troy, Karen

Year

• 2017

Date created

• 2017-05-26

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright