EXERCISE ASSISTANCE FOR PARALYZED PEOPLE

SURAJIT BARAD
112ID0106

ABSTRACT

This product mainly targets those have a paralyzed leg and need to learn to walk again. This
product is comprised of motors with joints and mechanisms to do the required work.
The main aim of the product is to make paralyzed people independent for their exercises. They
can use this product on their own and can use it any time without taking the help of others.
The product is easy to use. The user simply sits and straps himself to the body. The motor will
make him stand and the cam mechanism gives an upward and downward motion to the leg.

DESIGN PROBLEM AND OBJECTIVE:

DESIGN PROBLEM: It is usually not possible to prevent the conditions that cause paralysis,
and most of the time there is no specific treatment. Steroid medications are sometimes given at
the time of spinal cord injury to reduce inflammation in an attempt to limit the amount of
damage to the spinal nerves. For people with paralysis who must use wheel-chairs, treatment
emphasizes mostly on exercises.
They also need assistance to do most of the daily activities. So they sometimes feel dependent on
others.
DESIGN OBJECTIVE: As treatment mainly emphasizes on exercises, the main objective is to
provide required exercises to the user without any assistance.
It should be designed such that size of any user should be able to sit. Also it should be able to
support the user while standing and should take the load.

DESIGN: The design consists of five important parts

The lower fixed part :
It is the main functionality part of the product. It supports the upper parts i.e. the seat and
the back support. The cam and foot rest are also mounted on it. It has to take a lot of
vibration, so it should be strong enough to take all the loads. It is the fixed part of the
product to which other parts will be assembled.
MATERIAL:
Steel is used as it can more fatigue load as endurance limit of steel is greater than
aluminum.

Meshing

Fatigue safety factor

A 5mm tetrahedron meshing is used and a fatigue safety factor of 1.5 was
achieved in steel.
The seat:
The seat is designed to take the load and support the user when he/she is standing.
MATERIAL:
The material which can be used is ABS Plastic, Aluminum, Steel, etc. For lightweight
first ABS Plastic was used for analysis, but it failed. So Aluminum was selected.

Meshing

Loading Condition

Result

In analysis, 5mm meshing size is selected. A frictionless support is given at the rotating
joint and a load of 1200N (assuming user weight to be 120kg) is applied
on the face of the seat. A min factor of safety of 5.5 is acquired around the joint.
MANUFACTURING:
For manufacturing machining specifically milling can be used to make this part from an
Aluminum block considering strength and finishing.
The backrest:
The material selected for backrest is also Aluminum as it will always take less force than
the seat. It can be milled from Aluminum block as the seat.
Cam:
Cam is used to guide the footrest. It is connected to motor. As it rotates, it pushes the
footrest giving an upward and forward motion to the leg.

Cam is used instead of center shifted cylinder as a small size cam can be used and the
profile can be adjusted according to our need.
MATERIAL
As it is constant fatigue loading, fatigue analysis was done taking the weight of the user
as loading condition when the cam is rotating. The material selected is Steel as it can take
high fatigue loading.
MANUFACTURING:
Its manufacturing can be done by milling from steel billets.

Meshing

Loading Condition

Fatigue Safety factor

THREADED ROD:
A threaded rod is used to increase height i.e. to make the user able to stand. A tube having
internal thread is used to lift the seat. Square thread is used to lift the heavy load.
MATERIAL:
Steel is used in making the rod as it takes high load and is in fatigue load. The threaded rod is
attached to a plate to transfer the force to lift the seat.
MANUFACTURING:
The manufacturing can be done by turning process either in manual or CNC lathe.
ANALYSIS:
Thread analysis is done for both buttress thread and square thread. For our loading condition the
factor of safety are nearly equal. So 100 times the load is used to compare the threads.

Meshing

Square

FURTHUR IMPROVEMENT:
1. Height adjustment to accommodate users of different stature.
2. Servo motor can be used to create vibration.
3. RPM controller can be given to the user attached to the product.

Buttress