The wheelchair team has decided to focus on the issue of how wheelchairs ascend and descend ramps of varying grades. The goal is to not create a fully powered wheelchair, but to create a device that can be added to a manual wheelchair to help reduce the strain on the user while going up or down inclines. Although fully motorized wheelchairs can ascend and descend ramps, they have drawbacks that may deter users including cost and portability. Although there are some products that allow the user to ascend or descend inclines currently on the market, a vast majority of them experienced challenges using these attachments, including portability, cost, and inefficient installation and removal. With these issues in mind, the product discussed in the website focuses on the issues cost, weight, accessibility, safety, portability and efficiency of the installation and removal process.
The main concept for the final product is to create a device that will measure the effort/input of the user, and then amplify this effort to help the user on an incline, decline, or flat surface, similar to how an E-bike works. Another important aspect of the final product is that the user should be able to change how much support they receive. Various designs were created by the group, all of which are showcased throughout the website. Through research and consultation with wheelchair users and healthcare providers conducted through interviews and surveys, specifications and constraints have been created that will inform the design process later during prototyping and determine what the final design will be.
The group has split into three sub-teams in order to spread the work out evenly. The propulsion team is in charge of the motor and getting the wheelchair to move. The electro-mechanical integration (EMI) team is in charge of the user interface and circuitry. The effort sensing team is in charge of measuring the user input and motor output.
In terms of the budget, the device should cost no more than $2,500 as this is competitive with or below the current costs of existing products within the market. The group is currently on track with plans to complete all preliminary CAD designs by the end of the interim break, and have a fully functional prototype by the end of the school year.