Lend A Hand

Our proposal is to build an affordable add-on that decreases the effort and time required for a single armed individual to tie, take out, and replace their trash. The goal of the solution is that, for an single-armed amputee, the full process of tying, removing, and replacing a trash bag takes a reduced amount of time compared to how it would with no assistance. Based on the goals mentioned, maintaining a maximum time limit of 10 seconds and having a maximum trash load and securing force of 20 lbs will make the device more effective over manually tying the device. However, this will be one of the main challenges for this project. Having an optimized tying system that will meet these requirements is crucial for success. Currently, the design is relying on a rotating tying mechanism where a pole rotates up to 650 degrees and a hook that holds the bag to be able to go up and down 4 inches to secure the knot. To ensure this device will be useful for most single-arm amputees, the mounting...

   Our motivation is to create an add on to a trash can that simplifies the process of tying a trash bag. According to the Essentials of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Fourth Edition) , there are approximately 41,000 persons who live with an upper limb amputation in the United States. With the understanding that tying a knot generally requires two arms, our problem to address is the difficulty one armed amputees face when performing a task meant to be simple, taking out the trash. Our solution, an add on meant to tie a trash bag with the force and operation of a single arm, will hopefully impact our targeted audience with an improved quality of life by saving time and effort during this chore.     The specific problem being addressed is the excessive time and effort required to tie a bag with one arm  (need to talk to stake holders to verify time required) . Since our solution is meant not to get in the way of everyday use of the trash...