Design of platform lift for MIT's Skywalker Gamma Project

The Skywalker as found in MIT's Newman lab is a device that performs Body Weight Support Treadmill Therapy a form of walking therapy for recovering stroke patients. During clinical trials conducted in the fall of 2014, it became evident that the design of the Skywalker did not fully address how patients would mount and dismount the Skywalker. The current iteration of the design requires the patients to use stairs to mount and dismount the system. Given the gait impairment of the patients using the system it is evident that an alternative must be provided for the stairs in order to make the Skywalker accessible to severe stroke patients. The following thesis explores the idea of using a lead-screw driven platform lift to solve the problem. While the solution developed during the design process is a viable option, the high material cost disqualifies the solution discussed in this thesis as a viable option for implementation in the Skywalker system. The author recommends that alternative solutions such as ramps may provide a more low-cost and effective option for mounting and dismounting the Skywalker.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Okaine, Simon A

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hermano Igo Krebs.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105684

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/105684