Project Overview

Doug Kitchen Robot

Doug is a young transitional resident at Hope Network in East Lansing. Doug is excited about the new home being built for him with many accommodations for his quadriplegia. One of Doug strong desires is to be more independent in his ability to cook. Doug particularly enjoys making spaghetti. While the kitchen counter in his new home will be at wheelchair level, Doug will still need assistance in lifting and moving pots of water, food, and other items that require more muscle power than Doug can generate. One possible solution to this challenge is for Doug to use a powered robotic arm that would move on a track mounted on the wall behind his counter top.  This wall mounted unit will move over the workspace, sink, cook top, and possibly into the dishwasher or refrigerator. It will park out of the way when other people use the kitchen.

This robotic arm will be constructed from readily available mechanical components (sliding actuators, grippers, motors, etc.) are available to do this task Doug will need a control device to help him operate these components.The goal of this project is for our team to construct a robotic arm and joystick control interface. This interface will enable Doug to operate the robotic arm in his kitchen.

Design progress

For week 15 ( Last week before the Design Day) we presented the final Demonstration  for facilitator and we began writing the final report ...

 

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