COLT

A high-tech ambulation aid
for the preservation of gait
in the aging population.

For Australia’s aging population, walking and exercise are paramount to leading an independent and healthy life. However as necessary as it is, it is increasingly more difficult as we age. ~70% of adults over the age of 65 receive insufficient exercise, and incurable gait complications continue to proliferate. Mobility devices exist to supplement this issue, however none come without compromise. Crutches are tiring to use over long periods of time, frame walkers create long term postural issues, and wheelchairs exacerbate gait complications through inactivity.

The goal of the ‘Colt’ project was to create a solution that took the outstanding ergonomic framework of elbow crutches, and combine them with the extended usage of a wheelchair or frame walker.

This project led to a motorised solution that enables assisted standing and walking, and uses predictive technology to both provide a reliable weight-bearing device, as well as move without requiring physical exertion from the user.

Every aspect of Colt originates from, or is justified by current research.

See how research is reflected here

See Colt Engineering Drawings

Designed in Solidworks 2020

Beginning: Choosing A Design Direction

The design problem is extremely open ended. The first step would be to decipher the variables provided and narrow them, to establish a design direction.

To begin, I learned as much as I could about ADLs, or ‘Activities of Daily Living’, a clinical understanding of a healthy lifestyle, usually applied to disabled or aging persons.

Through discussion with my supervisor and research, Ambulation was the primary direction decided upon, with Transferrence as a secondary.
Put simply, ambulation refers to general movent, where transferrence refers to the transition between states (sitting, walking, standing, etc)