Synthesis and Prototyping of a Sit-to-Stand Assisting Device

Assistive and rehabilitation technologies deal with solutions aiming at sustaining or enhancing individual's capabilities and autonomy, thereby improving their overall welfare. In the framework of devices developed for daily life activities, we focus our attention on Sit-to-Stand (STS) devices, by proposing an innovative solution based on a mechanism that has been synthesized, designed, built and tested as a prototype version for accomplishing the task. The developed mechatronic system serves the requested motions of standing and sitting, possessing the main features of compactness and customization for being embedded in chairs and conventional seats, according to a procedure that will be detailed in the paper. A simulation in a realistic scenario using a 3D model of an individual was carried out to size and verify the mechanical design and actuation. The mechatronic design of the system and its operations were reported using a laboratory prototype to show its engineering soundness and first experimental tests.