Photo credit by Ferat Sahin
Written by Jessica Sinclair
The smart walker will be built to identify when the user is in trouble through the microphone array system, for example, if he/she fell. If the person does not get off the floor, the smart walker will call 911. Also, the system must alert the user if an obstacle is in the path that he/she walking down. The smart walker should be able to support the user’s weight if he/she sits on it.
The “smart walker” team is considered the first generation to work on this project. This project will contain four generations of work to bring the “smart walker” to its final production. The team consists of eleven students from different majors: three from computer engineering, three from electrical engineering, four from mechanical engineering and one from industrial engineering. This is their senior design project; they have been working on it for two quarters. The project’s goal was to make the smart walker people-friendly according to Steve Smith, a team member. Some people fear or are not comfortable with a robotic looking walker.
People are not familiar that “the smart walker is just like any other walker except for when the user is in trouble,” Sahin.
This smart walker will provide opportunities for doctors and patients rely. The smart walker will give vitals to the doctor as a remote tool by sending the information to the hospital or doctor’s office. It will tell the heart rate, measure how often users rely on the walker for stability and collect user’s temperature. It also has a “strain gauge”; to tell the doctors what side of the walker the patient favors.
Catina Jelfo, 5th year Mechanical Engineering, is responsible to mount all the sensors and make the smart walker to appear non-robotic.
Jelfo mentions that society has smart walkers that either take vitals but don’t move or others that move but take no vitals.
“Our walker is a combo of both walkers. The walker we are making is being built on a normal walker while other people create the whole thing from scratch,” said Jelfo.
She mentions the advantages of the smart walker can allow doctors to keep an eye on patients remotely instead of putting them in intensive care. This opens up more beds in the facility. She brought up that the biggest advantage is the patient will be more comfortable at home than at the hospital.
“I hope people learn at Imagine RIT that a large team came together from different majors that can accomplish something together,”said Jelfo.