Standard, toe-operated, bass drum pedals require the user to have both leg coordination and strength, both of which can be troublesome attributes for the average drummer. Ergonomic studies, however, revealed that the toe is the most natural balance point and the heel the most natural striker for foot-actuated devices. To improve the ergonomics of the bass drum pedal the goal of this project was to develop a heel-operated pedal design. Design specifications for this pedal were developed based on benchmarking of existing toe-operated pedals. The final heel-operated design utilizes a four-bar linkage as the working mechanism. The team was able to successfully design, manufacture, and test a prototype of the envisioned pedal.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Andujar, Gregory
• Savastano, Daniel John
• Sherrerd, Michael R

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042811-002254

Advisor

• Ault, Holly Keyes

Year

• 2011

Date created

• 2011-04-28

Location

• Worcester

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright