Tearing of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is one of the most common injuries for baseball pitchers. During a pitch, the UCL experiences high levels of stress between the cocking and acceleration phase. Because this stress cannot be directly measured in vivo, a pitching robot with many biomimetic features was created to gain a better understanding of these forces. This robotic research platform was then used to design a brace that reduces the amount of stress the ligament undergoes, potentially prolonging the play time for athletes. The robotic arm featured seven independently, pneumatically actuated Hydro Muscles and a biomimetic UCL. When the brace was used on the robotic arm, the force on the artificial UCL decreased during the pitching phases which validated its effectiveness.

• 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

• Sardi, Paula
• Kurtze, Benedict Zayn
• Gallagher, Steven D.
• Brennan, Maddie Zhu

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042519-111953

Advisor

• Guceri, Selcuk
• Popovic, Marko B.

Year

• 2019

Date created

• 2019-04-25

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Mechanical Engineering

Rights statement

• In Copyright