Of the steps with springs to facilitate the ascent of the staircase

Georgia Tech/Emory

Published the 15.07.2017 at 17: 10 pm

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The advertisements are seductive : mini-lifts, platform lifts or wheelchair stair lifts allow people, the elderly, or with disabilities, to climb their stairs. A tool to preserve its independence and foster home support. Only, these devices have a very high cost, and often require adjustments.

A new device, created by researchers from the universities Georgia Tech and Emory (Atlanta, Usa), could provide a new alternative. It is of stairs to lay on the existing stair, running on a spring system, which would reduce 37 % of the effort on the lap of its users, to the rise of the steps. During the descent, it would also lower the impact on the ankles of 26 %.

Nothing is lost, nothing is created

During the descent, the steps are lowered gently up to the height of the next step, by storing energy in springs. They remain then in the low position, and when mounted, this energy is restored, and walking back slowly to accompany the escalation of its user.

“Down the stairs, this is equivalent to brake in drive and accelerating,” says Lena Ting, a professor of biomedical engineering at Emory university and Georgia Tech, and involved in the development of the device. Your legs use a lot of energy to block each step, in order to avoid falling. Our stairs, instead of the dispel, the store. “