Eduardo Mora, Michael Milligan, Andrew Breeden, Adely Cruz, Kyle Evans, Brad Kelley, Gabriel Leon, Deven Mistry

To respond to the growing need for advanced mobility aids in elderly populations, our team’s goal was to develop a walking assistance device which utilizes an active fall prevention system to prevent falls caused by tipping or too much forward acceleration. The device also needed to implement a braking system which the user can apply with low force and hand dexterity as opposed to brakes that traditional rollator devices use. Our solution, the Walk-E, resembles a traditional rollator but with key design improvements. The Walk-E has a sleek chassis that is aesthetically pleasing and a forward-facing seat to allow the user to rest in between walking. The device has two braking systems. The electronic brake is applied by a linear actuator with a rubber tip which presses into the rear non-pivoting wheels. This is activated by a potentiometer in the handlebar that is turned by a lever that is squeezed by the user’s hand, requiring 0.5-1.0 lb of force, and is connected to the circuit controlling the actuator. An accelerometer is also connected to the controller which can apply the running brakes automatically if acceleration passes 1.5 m/s 2 . There is an alternative manual parking brake which is activated via a bike brake cable attached to a lever arm on the handlebar. To actively prevent tipping, four deployable legs attached to the chassis fold out to increase stability in the event of a fall. When the tilt switch registers a 10o tilt in any direction, a spring propels the legs outward in the direction that the tip was detected. This is activated by a solenoid restricting this motion, then the control device retracts the solenoid when needed.