For my Multidisciplinary Senior Design (MSD) project, I worked on a team to develop the sensing system for the “pediatric test mannequin”: an anthropomorphic test device for a motorized pediatric stander. The motorized pediatric stander kit was developed by a previous MSD team to enable children with limited mobility to manually control their motion. This test mannequin was designed with the purpose of collecting data to characterize the stander’s performance and the rider’s experience/safety. Data was collected through use of load cells, force sensitive resistors (FSRs), orientation boards (OBs) and inertial measurement units (IMUs).
The following were my main contributions to this project:
Repaired the pediatric stander. Dead battery cells were replaced, a new battery management system was installed, and connections between control boards and motor drivers were re-soldered.
Pediatric Stander
Developed Bill of Materials to meet power and functionality requirements.
Used Altium Designer software to create schematic for custom FSR support circuitry.
FSR support circuitry schematic
Implemented schematic on a breadboard, tested the circuit with a custom C++ script, and soldered the circuit on a protoboard.
Helped establish connections between all electrical components.
Worked with the test mannequin’s structure team to develop sensor wiring diagrams for each limb.
Helped mount sensors onto the mannequin structure.
Helped create comprehensive system wiring diagram.
Wiring Diagram
The final sensing system (outside of the mannequin struture) is shown below.
Sensing System
More information about this project is available on GitHub and Confluence.
