Modular Design of a Passive, Low-Cost Prosthetic Knee Mechanism to Enable Able-Bodied Kinematics for Users With Transfemoral Amputation

There is a significant need for low-cost, high-performance prosthetic knee technology for transfemoral amputees in India. Replicating able-bodied gait in amputees is biomechanically necessary to reduce the metabolic cost, and it is equally important to mitigate the socio-economic discrimination faced by amputees in developing countries due to their conspicuous gait deviations. This paper improves upon a previous study of a fully passive knee mechanism, addressing the issues identified in its user testing in India. This paper presents the design, analysis and bench-level testing of the three major functional modules of the new prosthetic knee architecture: (i) a four-bar latch mechanism for achieving stability during stance phase of walking, (ii) an early stance flexion module designed by implementing a fully adjustable mechanism, and (iii) a hydraulic rotary damping system for achieving smooth and reliable swing-phase control

Device for mechanical plotting of power/speed curves for a D.C. motor

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2017.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 23).The relationships between power, speed, and torque in a direct current motor are often not intuitive to students based on functionality of modern dynamometers. Previous work in a 1998 master's thesis by Peter T. Lee built a device to mechanically demonstrate the torque/speed relationship for engineering students. This thesis expands that work to prototype a modified device to show the power/speed relationship utilizing a mechanical multiplier. Speed and torque output are converted into linear motions along perpendicular axes, and power is output as their product. This thesis summarizes the design and construction of a first prototype of such a mechanical dynamometer device that can be used in teaching demonstrations.by Jace Cali Warner.S.B