College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 2
College of Engineering
Department - Author 2
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 2
BS in Mechanical Engineering
College - Author 3
College of Engineering
Department - Author 3
Computer Science Department
Degree - Author 3
BS in Computer Science
College - Author 4
College of Engineering
Department - Author 4
Computer Engineering Department
Degree - Author 4
BS in Computer Engineering
Date
6-2022
Primary Advisor
Sarah Harding, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
Jack's Helping Hand and its hippotherapy participants required a device to serve as an alternative to a live horseback riding experience that could also increase the range of riders. This would provide more clients with equine-assisted therapy that has proven to better the lives of people with both physical and mental disabilities. Horses can be unpredictable, tall, and sometimes anxiety-inducing, especially for new riders. Our group’s aim was to develop a mechanical horse that will be able to reduce these issues for equine therapy centers and the riders they help. When a rider gets to practice sitting on the horse without the unpredictability or the height, the rider can develop confidence in riding before sitting on a real horse. After going out into the field to experience horse riding for ourselves and translating our experience into the design for our therapeutic mechanical horse, we have created a mechanical horse that can sit children who weigh up to 160 pounds and can withstand the conditions present in the barn where the machine will be stored.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/mesp/668
Included in
Computer-Aided Engineering and Design Commons, Digital Communications and Networking Commons, Electro-Mechanical Systems Commons, Hardware Systems Commons, Robotics Commons