PortABLE: Portable Assistive Biomechanical Exoskeleton Elbow
Author: Jarren Berdal
Faculty Supervisor: David Quintero
Department: Engineering
The following is a design paper documenting the development of the Portable Assistive BiomechanicaL Exoskeleton (PortABLE) Elbow. The goal for our design was to deliver an affordable, lightweight device that can perform as a rehabilitation and assistive device. The PortABLE Elbow is actuated by a brushless direct current motor reduced by an additive-manufactured planetary gearbox and transmitted to the user’s elbow via an additive-manufactured dual pulley cable system. The motor, transmission, pulley system, motor driver, and cable tensioner are all mounted to an additive-manufactured detachable backpack mounting platform. The proposed tensioning system reduced cable slack, resulting in a transmission output error of degrees while lifting a user's arm. The PortABLE Elbow in total amasses 4,754 kg, which is distributed comfortably for the user via the backpack harness and meets the torque delivery requirements for activities of daily living while minimizing the cost to manufacture at $2,000.