Multi-room Harness Track Transfer Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing harness systems for individuals with limited mobility often lack the ability to seamlessly transfer support across multiple rooms, limiting their mobility and requiring manual assistance for navigation.
Innovation Solution
A multi-room harness system comprising a network of tracks and trolleys with motorized movement, controlled by microcontrollers, allowing for the transfer of a cart with body weight support across aligned I-beam tracks between rooms, utilizing sensors for navigation and energy efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single-room harness system is used, then the system structure is simple, but the individual cannot move autonomously across multiple rooms
Solution Approach 1:
The track system is divided into multiple modular segments that can be installed in different rooms and connected together. Each room has its own track segments that align with adjacent rooms, allowing the trolley to move seamlessly across room boundaries while maintaining a relatively simple structure in each individual room.
Solution Approach 2:
The track system is designed with universal connection features that allow the same track components to serve multiple functions - supporting movement within a single room and enabling transitions between multiple rooms. The aligned I-beam tracks and trolley design create a universal system that works across different spatial configurations.
2Productivity
If manual assistance is provided for room transitions, then the system remains simple, but productivity and autonomy are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The trolley is equipped with motorized drive mechanisms that enable it to autonomously navigate track intersections and transitions between rooms without requiring manual intervention. The system serves itself by automatically positioning the trolley at intersection points and executing transfers across aligned tracks in different rooms.
3Speed
If continuous motor operation is used for trolley movement, then speed and responsiveness are improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The motor operates periodically rather than continuously - activating only when the trolley approaches an intersection or needs to initiate movement. The motor provides high-speed bursts for rapid positioning and transfers, then enters idle or low-power states during steady cruising segments, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining high speed when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-room in-home harness system is disclosed. Specific implementations may include a first plurality of tracks including a first track system in a first room, a trolley that may be configured to moveably couple to a track of the first plurality of tracks and move along a horizontal plane of the track, and a cart coupled to the trolley, where the trolley may be configured to move the cart along each track of the first plurality of tracks and may also be configured to transfer the cart from the first plurality of tracks to a second plurality of tracks in a second room.