Progressing through Winter

Things are progressing smoothly. We did our first test of the artificial limb tester and after a few wiring issues, everything ran smoothly. Our neutral wire was not connected properly to the capacitor circuit that drives the motor.

The tester still needs to be modified to allow for more of a heel strike. Most of the welds were tacked in to allow us to move components around if needed. We will need to move the hip mounting point out 3/4" so it is in line with the motor mount and cam. We also need to design a trip mechanism that will stop the forward motion of the leg and allow for a more natural movement into the heel strike. The frame of the tester may also need to be reinforced by the hip joint to prevent deflection under load.

A safety light was wired in for the test and will turn on when the unit is running. Some disappointment here as it is a solid LED yellow light and not a blinking light.

Steady progress from our software team. They have programmed and designed a circuit that will monitor battery voltage levels and output them to a computer screen. We now need to program that interface so it is visible on a cell phone App. MIT's App Inventor looks promising right now.