Open-Source Designs for Distributed Manufacturing of Low-Cost Customized Walkers

To improve accessibility, this article describes a static, four-legged, walker that can be constructed from materials and fasteners commonly available from hardware stores coupled by open-source 3-D printed joints. The designs are described in detail, shared under an open-source license, and fabricated with a low-cost open-source desktop 3-D printer and hand tools. The resulting device is loaded to failure to determine the maximum load that the design can safely support in both vertical and horizontal failure modes. The experimental results showed the average vertical failure load capacity was 3680 & PLUSMN;694.3N, equivalent to 375.3 & PLUSMN;70.8kg of applied weight with the fractured location at the wood dowel handlebars. The average horizontal load capacity was 315.6 & PLUSMN;49.4N, equivalent to 32.2 & PLUSMN;5.1kg. The maximum weight capacity of a user of 187.1 & PLUSMN;29.3kg was obtained, which indicates the open-source walker design can withstand the weight requirements of all genders with a 95% confidence interval that includes a safety factor of 1.8 when considering the lowest deviation weight capacity. The design has a cost at the bottom of the range of commercial walkers and reduces the mass compared to a commercial walker by 0.5kg (19% reduction). It can be concluded that this open-source walker design can aid accessibility in low-resource settings.

Automated summary

This article introduces a static, four-legged walker that can be constructed using materials and fasteners commonly available from hardware stores and open-source 3-D printed joints. The design details are shared under an open-source license and fabricated with a low-cost 3-D printer and hand tools. Experimental results show that the walker design can safely support a maximum vertical load capacity of 3680±694.3N and a maximum horizontal load capacity of 315.6±49.4N. It can withstand a user weight of 187.1±29.3kg, which meets the weight requirements of all genders.