Grabinator 3000

Inspiration

Carpal tunnel syndrome affect more than 3 million people, causing tingling and numbness of the hand and arm and impairing daily activity. One of our teammates experiences Carpal Tunnel and can not perform high torque load motions, while another teammate’s dad finds it hard to turn or grab daily objects (screw driver, door knob, etc). We hope that our technology can be of help as they navigate daily life.

What it does

The grasping system senses motion from your hand through a sleeve interface. The claw is able to perform grabbing, bending, and twisting/turning motions.

All the load is on the forearm and hence the wrist is free from being loaded.

How we built it

To make the final product as light and transportable as possible, we designed our gripper gear and motor mechanisms in a compact manner. We also focused on user interface with a variety of intuitive sensing modalities, including force and position sensing.

Challenges we ran into

We focused much of our time designing the initial prototype. This requires a meticulous and focused attitude as well as experience in manufacturing. Going from zero to a full on manufactured product was definitely also challenging.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We did at least two iterations on most components, and we were able to control our designed mechanisms with ease. We have thorough CAD models, prototyping plans, and system integration.

What we learned

We learned to minimize our design choices and think of what requirements will be crucial to the final product. We focus on the most important components and mechanisms.