Humanitarian engineering design methodology for AM metallic products: A smart mobility platform case

Abstract

The goal of this work is to parametrically design an affordable platform attachable to a wheelchair offering autonomous guidance to people with disabilities. Special focus is given on manufacturability and assemble-ability of the platform. This mobility platform consists of a number of modules, most of which are expected to be manufactured utilizing AM technologies. Moving into the humanitarian engineering domain, under the prism of customization / personalization, the main objective is to offer different variants of assembled platforms. To this end, a well-defined parametric design flow has been utilized followed by a manufacturability analysis. This procedure helps defining what variant should be used as per the requirements presumed and what modules are going to be used in each case. Furthermore, parameters of the modules themselves can be chosen based on the usability. Such parameters include the infill of the modules and their dimensions.© 2020 The Authors, Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer review under the responsibility of the scientific committee of CIRP.