Experimental Anti-Hand Tremor Cups (axis series: 2 designs)

thingiverse

Updated on 24th July 2016 A lot of emails received over the past two years from people suffering from hand tremors or those who know someone close, have urged for updates about this design. Great news! In an engineering course, I collaborated with fellow students to improve and make it manufacturable. The new design is more stable physically but doesn't use any 3D printed parts. I am currently working on adapting the design to a printable form factor and will publish it online for everyone's use soon. These cups were initially created as part of a science fair project, with the goal to develop different drinking cup types for Parkinson's patients or individuals with severe intention tremors. It was my grandfather, who suffered from a severe intention tremor, that inspired me to create these cups after he burnt himself while trying to drink coffee one day. Despite having my printer for only a month before the fair, I couldn't develop these cups as much as hoped. Future versions may include orientation locks, turning limits (for actual drinking), and standardized weights. If you Makers out there think this is an amazing idea and express your thoughts in comments, I will actively work on completing the designs for these cups. The Axis series has two incomplete designs: one with a frame and central axis above the cup's center using three bearings; another with a bearing track design that uses seven bearings. The handle design is inspired by the "Hand Steady" cup, which allows various holding ways to reduce potential strain and twisting. Once completed, there will be a turning limit enabling the cup to rotate with the handle beyond a certain degree or possibly include a button for locking it into any desired orientation (especially beneficial for the bearing track design). My Fluid series can be found here: [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:277972](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:277972) Instructions for assembly: Use bearings of 5mm thickness, 8mm inner diameter, and 16mm outer diameter. You'll also need superglue, duct tape, sandpaper, and hot glue (easier to remove). I printed with PLA at .4 fill, three layers everywhere, and a 0.2 thickness. If you plan on using these products, I recommend adding four layers on top and solid infil every few layers during printing.