Design Optimization of an Above-Knee Prosthesis with Energy Regeneration

Above-knee amputees who use a prosthetic leg typically have to compensate for its shortcomings with unnatural hip motions. This compensation eventually leads to adverse health issues such as arthritis. We propose an active prosthesis to improve performance. The motor in our prosthetic knee allows the patient to move his hip normally, thus reducing the possibility of ancillary health issues. To improve the efficiency of the prosthesis, we use the braking phase of the prosthesis to regenerate energy. By storing energy in a supercapacitor during braking, the prosthesis lasts longer between each charge than it would without regenerative braking. We are considering two knee motor designs—a gear drive and a ball screw drive. Both designs appear to have the potential for regeneration. Several parameters characterize the prosthesis design. We use biogeography-based optimization (BBO) to determine these parameters. We are currently optimizing the prosthesis design to achieve accurate tracking of the knee angle. Future optimization criteria will include efficient energy use and generation.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/u_poster_2013/1009/thumbnail.jp

P4_4 Planet Kayakers

During this paper we investigate how the different surface gravity [1] present on other bodies within our solar system affects the size and shape of hydraulic jumps in rivers. We find that the ratio of height to length of the hydraulic jump is a constant, to 3 significant figures. This is due to the fact that on bodies with low surface gravity the wave is taller but longer and for high surface gravity the wave is lower in height but shorter in length. We conclude that any body, apart from Jupiter as it violates the initial conditions needed to form a hydraulic jump, would create waves that could be surfed by kayakers and surfers

The Inclusion Conundrum: A Critical Account of Youth and Gender Issues Within and Beyond Sport for Development and Peace Interventions

The sport for development and peace (SDP) sector is made up of various development-focused policies and programs that seek to engage, stabilise, empower and create social and economic change. SDP projects, most often run by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), have been implemented in regions enduring physical conflicts, health pandemics, major gender divisions and other social crises that have a great impact on youth. In this context, sport has been accorded the difficult task of facilitating greater access for marginal, vulnerable or community groups whilst positively contributing to the attainment of diverse development objectives. While the ‘where’ and ‘why’ of SDP has been largely accounted for, the attention in this article is on the ‘who’ of SDP in relation to the notion of inclusion. Drawing on extensive research conducted in Jamaica, Kosovo, Rwanda and Sri Lanka, the idea of SDP as an inclusionary practice is critically investigated. While SDP may ‘give voice’ to participants, especially to individuals with athletic ability or sporting interests, the extent to which this creates social contexts that are fundamentally inclusive remains open to discussion. In this sense, while targeting populations, groups or individuals remains an attractive strategy to achieve specific goals, for example youth empowerment or gender equality, empirical assessments complicate the presumption that SDP programming leads to inclusion, particularly at a larger societal level. The article considers a matrix of inclusion criteria, potential outcomes, and the tensions arising between targeted SDP programming and the often-exclusionary dimensions of sport more broadly, with a focus on youth and gender issues

P4_3 Spaceball

In this paper, we investigated the amount of energy and force an oncoming piece of debris the size and mass of a baseball would have on the International Space Station (ISS), and the effects of a collision between the two. It was found that the energy of the baseball is 4.4x10^6 J, meaning the force it exerts as it penetrates a window on the ISS is 5.5x10^7 N. This is shown to have the equivalent force to a collision between two cars if their impact velocity is 1303 ms^−1 . We concluded that the ISS collision would cause serious damage to its protective shielding and modules and would be by far the largest collision to date

P4_7 It's a Man Eat Man World

In this paper we calculated how long the human race would last if it resorted to cannibalism andonly cannibalism. We took into account how many calories a human is comprised of, using thevalue for an average human male, and that each human will consume exactly 2500 kcal a day in accordance with the recommended calorie intake for men. Using a decay model, we found that 1 person would be left alive after 1149 days