Engineers create EMG for children with disabilities Thursday, 30 June 2016

Electronic, mechanical and manufacturing volunteer engineers worked for a year creating a custom electromechanical motion generator, made from recycled motorised wheelchairs, to assist children with disabilities at a local specialist school.

Equipped with an $8,800 ACT Government grant, staff and eight professional and student volunteers at not-for-profit Technical Aid to the Disabled ACT (TADACT) created the custom electromechanical motion generator (EMG) for students at Holt’s Cranleigh School.

Project Coordinator Darien Colbeck GradIEAust said that TADACT worked with a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist and a senior health researcher to build the “mechanical bull” from scratch, overcoming unique obstacles in the process.

“The original idea behind the mechanical bull was to design a very slow and gentle EMG that could be programmed by health professionals to provide enjoyable exercise for individual children with cerebral palsy to strengthen a comprehensive group of abdominal, pelvic and thigh muscles,” Mr Colbeck said. “Working with second-hand parts is always challenging as there is no manual or specifications when using recycled materials and we also needed to create an interface for a physio or OT to program it.”

The EMG’s controlling electronics were designed and constructed by volunteer engineer James Webb, an instrument scientist by day who builds lasers, telescopes and associated systems for the tracking of satellites and orbital debris.

“The electronics and firmware required approximately 200 hours of development time and was particularly rewarding upon integration with the sturdy platform built by Chris Diener MIEAust CPEng (Retired) as it gave the mechanics a life of its own,” Mr Webb said. “In order to have fully programmable motion in both pitch and roll, each axis needed to have real-time, independent control of its position and this, combined with the additional constraints of minimal cost and a simple user interface, necessitated the design of a custom control system, as most economically available motor control systems are velocity control systems with unsuitable interfaces.”

Cranleigh School Executive Teacher Janelle Munson said that the mechanical bull is highly popular among students in their daily physical curriculum activities and benefits the students both emotionally and physically.

“The mechanical bull is a firm favourite with our students during gym rotation time,” Mrs Munson said. “Our students with autism particularly like the rocking and rolling motion and staff have noticed its calming effect, and for students with gross motor delays, the mechanical bull aids in the strengthening of core muscles.”

The innovative TADACT team are currently working on a second larger EMG device for a 15-year-old girl who lives on a rural property to help her overcome emotional and physical barriers to horse riding and is due for completion in 6 months’ time.

Executive Director of TADACT Graham Waite, a mechanical and manufacturing engineer, proudly contributes over 25 years’ experience coordinating procurement development and improvement programs to TADACT’s projects.

“It is rewarding because I can now assist people with disabilities and older people with their special equipment needs,” Mr Waite said. “We don’t make things that are commercially available, as we make specialised custom-built devices.”

If you would like to volunteer your engineering skills for TADACT’s custom projects to assist people with disabilities or elderly people, please contact TADACT on 02 6287 4290 or via email

 

Image: Cranleigh School student, Ethan, enjoying EMG therapy time. Courtesy of Cranleigh School.