Assisted Prostration Device (APD) — Open Hardware Specification v1.0
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Repetitive full-body prostration is a core practice in Tibetan Buddhist Ngondro (111,111 prostrations), Hindu dandavat pranama, Islamic salah, and related traditions. The cumulative biomechanical load causes patellofemoral, wrist, and lumbar injury, preventing elderly and injured practitioners from sustaining practice. No existing assistive device addresses this motion profile. The Assisted Prostration Device (APD) is a non-wearable floor-based open hardware platform providing: constrained linear guided sliding across a ~1100 mm usable stroke; bi-directional kinetic energy restoration via five passive mechanical embodiments (elastomeric spring, gas strut, counterweight-pulley, cam-based nonlinear resistance, and magnetic eddy-current damping); configurable resistance geometry; optional finite-state machine cycle monitoring; and silent operation for monastery and meditation hall contexts. Typical dimensions: 2120 x 600 x 720 mm. Max safe working load: 150 kg. Released under CERN OHL-S v2.
Author: Bose, Joy
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7162211092
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