Exo-Skeleton Elbow

Overview

This was originally a previous group’s senior design project that was left incomplete. I assumed control of the project in summer following these senior’s graduation. (Note: This is NOT my senior design project; I have a separate project for that). I started with a design that needed to be modified. The pulley driving the elbow was glued to the axel on which it rotated. This lead to a great deal of slippage. The anchor for the Bowden cable would bend under load and, as it was only held in place with one screw, was prone to wobbling. There was also a potentiometer that just had a little piece meant to hold it in place, which broke often.

After looking at the math, we figured out that the pulley diameter could be reduced by 1 inch and its thickness could be halved. I changed the pulley to also attach to the lower brace with a bracket and screwed together to be able to take it apart. The anchor for the Bowden cable was also changed to be thicker and have proper endings for the sheath and a second screw was added to prevent wobbling. The potentiometer got a new enclosure that screwed on and covered it for complete protection. A mount for an IMU was also added.

This project completion was delayed due to my universities shutdown in response to Covid-19 and my work on the project had ended since I have graduated.