Writing Aid

Objective:

Develop a system to dampen vibrations or jerks at the tip of a writing utensil. A successful design should allow one to write legibly on a bus, in a car, on a boat or on an airplane and it could also help those with inherently shaky hands as in the case of those suffering Parkinson’s disease or cerebral palsy.

The design to the left uses two linear viscous dampers mounted to a "ground" plate and connected together to form a 3 bar linkage.

This is a mechanical engineering project that involves:

• Producing and testing a functional prototype

• Designing a vibration dampening writing aid

• Researching current alternatives and solutions

Bernhard Zender's (UBC) suggested solution is to create a platform that can use resistance from the writer's other hand to help filter out high frequency components.