The final design and print of the Finger Rehabilitation Device was finished this week. Topology optimization was conducted on the palm plate in TopOpt and the resulting design can be seen in figure 1. This reduced the print time and the amount of material used. Other print settings were kept the same as last print: Pla – PVA, 100% density, 70% support.
Figure 1. (Left) Final palm plate model
Figure 2. (Right) Final finger pocket model
All five of the updated finger pocket models (figure 2) were also printed this week. The only difference in this print compared to last week was the updated model that has connectors for the resistance bars on the side. This way as the finger is flexed, the bars don’t get in the way. Resistance bars with infill densities of 50% and 100% were printed this week as well so that testing of the resistance to finger flexing could be conducted. We found 50% to be somewhat difficult and 100% to be much too rigid. Research into the correlation between difficulty in flexing the bars and infill density can be done in a future project.
The final assembly can be seen in figures 3 and 4. They will be presented to the ME514 class on Monday, May 1st. It is fully functional and fits snugly to Buzz’s hand. Overall we were able to meet our project goals of: creating an individually customized functional rehabilitation device, using topology optimization for cheap and quick production, and creating a comfortable and useful product. This project can continue by updating the design to prevent the finger tip attachments from slipping off, creating a better snap fit so the resistance bars never come apart from the palm plate or finger tip attachments during use, testing the rigidity of the resistance bars, and testing the usefulness of the final product on a actual patient.
Figure 3. (Left) Final assembly model of finger rehabilitation device
Figure 4. (Right) Printed final assembly