Drive System How Assistance Systems Facilitate Participation in Everyday Life

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FAULHABER Drive Systems

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Technical assistance systems are intended to make life easier for people with physical impairments. In addition to close collaboration between developers and users, technical expertise, components, and adequate financial resources are also crucial.

Improving the lives of physically impaired individuals is the goal of the Enhanced Team at the Med Tech Lab of the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST) in Rapperswil. Its members aim to make everyday challenges easier for physically restricted people, such as climbing stairs, sitting at a table, getting on or off a bus, or passing through a door. Scientists and engineers are exploring how innovative technology can contribute to these efforts.

To ensure that truly relevant solutions are developed, the team works closely with various groups of affected individuals. These may include paraplegics, orthopedic technicians, or relatives of physically impaired individuals. The starting point for developments is always a real-world problem. In close consultation with those affected, concepts are designed, constructed, developed, and repeatedly tested in an iterative process until they reliably meet the demands of daily life.

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For More Mobility And Independence

In nearly ten years of development work, an innovative wheelchair (Robility Enhanced), an exoskeleton (Varileg Enhanced), and an exoskeleton-wheelchair combination (Enhanced Hybrid) have been created. The Robility Enhanced project represents innovations and advancements in wheelchair technology. With the "Zed Evolution" model, the team has built a racing wheelchair that can do far more than traditional wheelchairs: climb stairs, open doors, and rotate on its own axis. Varileg Enhanced focuses on research and development of an active exoskeleton, similar to an "Ironman suit," which aims to enable movement of the knee and hip joints, thereby allowing paraplegics to walk upright.

With the Enhanced Hybrid, the researchers are venturing into uncharted territory: the team's vision is to develop a combination of wheelchair and exoskeleton that unites the advantages of both assistive devices. One could imagine it as a type of "Transformer": a wheelchair that transforms into an exoskeleton at the push of a button. This enables greater mobility and independence for paraplegics in daily life. The Enhanced Team has also succeeded in eliminating the need for crutches, which are typically required for exoskeletons, with the Hybrid.

Small Drives, Big Impact

The wheelchair also demonstrates—exemplary of all the researchers' solutions—the important role played by the drive technology used. It is, of course, essential for mobility. However, suitable drive solutions are also needed for seat adjustment, extending additional support structures, or movements in the gripping module, which is used, for instance, to open doors. To ensure that the assistive systems as a whole prove to be reliable and robust, the right drives are essential.

We need very powerful drive systems that are as weightless and as small as possible so that they virtually disappear.

Silvia Rohner, Team Leader MedTech Enhanced Team

It fits perfectly that the drive experts from Schönaich at Faulhaber have been supporting the project for more than seven years, providing consulting and technical solutions as well as sponsorship. A total of seven Faulhaber motors are installed to ensure the functionality and maneuverability of the wheelchair. For example, a DC micro motor from the 3890...CR series ensures that the seat can be effortlessly moved forward and backward to adjust to various needs, change positions, or shift the center of gravity, such as when climbing stairs. When the seat is forward, the user can comfortably approach a table. For traveling longer, flat distances, the legs can be extended in the rear position, resting above. The wheels of the wheelchair are also powered by powerful Faulhaber motors. Brushless flat motors of the Bxt series enable the wheelchair to move in all directions and maneuver in the tightest of spaces. The drives impress with high torque despite their low weight and compact design.

Solutions Are Tested in Competition

The developers test how reliably the innovations function on their in-house test track. The development team takes another step toward practical testing at the Cybathlon, a competition where pilots with assistive systems from various manufacturers compete against each other on different courses. For the Enhanced Team, Rolf Schoch secured second place in the 2024 competition with both the wheelchair and the exoskeleton, despite stepping in as a substitute for the planned exoskeleton pilot. One goal of the Cybathlon is to encourage researchers and developers to create technologies that function better, are accepted by people with physical impairments, and thus optimize the quality of life and autonomy of those affected. As a result, the team leaves the competition not only with a trophy but also with many insights to refine, research, and optimize further.

Demo Models for Mini Exoskeleton Increase Awareness

To make technology usable, it must repeatedly be introduced to potential users. For presentations at trade fairs, for instance, mechatronic demos are helpful. A model of the Enhanced Hybrid demonstrates what is possible with the exoskeleton-wheelchair. A model figure in the mini-exoskeleton overcomes typical everyday obstacles. Various obstacles approach the model figure on a conveyor belt. The figure’s behavior can be remotely controlled via buttons. Here too, Faulhaber drives are used, ensuring the right movements at the right moment, such as a brushless motor from the B series (1628 ... B). The drives stand out for their precision, very long lifespan, and high reliability. In the demo, it is combined with a planetary gearhead from the 16/7 series, 246:1. With a diameter of 0.63 inches and a length of 1.16 inches, the gearhead requires little space while still providing a continuous torque of up to 2.66 in·oz. The drive-gearhead combination ensures that the demo can assume the desired position.

The Enhanced Team is grateful for the long-standing collaboration with Faulhaber, which has existed almost since the project's inception, providing suitable micro drives as well as technical and financial support. Those who look over the team's shoulders are amazed at what is already possible today and are simultaneously inspired by a vision that is so much greater. The team dreams of solutions that can be put on as easily as a pair of pants and then provide support while walking. One can certainly look forward to further developments.

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