Reaction Wheel Backpack Project

Project progress:

Small-scale prototype testing. Code not completed.

TODOs:

• Reverse motor function
• Tune PID gains
• Adjust trigger timing
• Update credits

What is this?

It is a project to create backpack-styled assistive device for people with defective balancing abilities, using reaction wheels to prevent them from fall injuries.

How does it work?

The project uses a motion sensor to sense the body position and when senses a fall it will activate the reaction wheels to provide counter acting force and stop the fall (or lessen the impact by reducing the speed).

The project incorperates PID controllers to calculate throttle values for the motors and uses off-market ESCs to drive BLDC motors which are commonly used for RC aircrafts. The reaction wheels are attached to the motors.

Basically follows the sequence:
motion sensor --> PID controller --> ESC --> Motor --> Reaction wheel --> motion of the person

Parts employed

Currently used parts:

• Arduino Mini
• MPU6050 module
• 2204 BLDC motors*2
• Blheli_S ESC*2
• 3D printed base
• 3D printed reaction wheels
• Wires

Files

Code: contains code for the arduino

hardwares:

test-platform: contains model and 3d-print files for the test platform for small scale tests

Credits:

• to be done.