Smart tech gives a new spin on the classic wheelchair

The thought of putting furnishings connected wheels has been astir for hundreds of years. From a custom-built seat with 4 tiny wheels utilized by King Phillip II of Spain successful the 16th period to a German paraplegic watchmaker's wheelchair with a geared beforehand instrumentality and manus cranks unveiled successful 1665, the innovation ne'er stops.

Whether manual oregon electrical powered, wheelchairs person undoubtedly improved the lives of millions of radical who person difficulties successful walking. Today, the aforesaid digital technologies that are changing the mode we live, work, get astir and interact—artificial intelligence, 3D printing, net of things, dependable activation—are besides being applied to the wheelchair industry.

"There is simply a batch of probe present that demonstrates however state-of-the-art exertion tin alteration disabled persons go much independent," said Manuel Lai, co-founder of IRIS, a starring SME specialized successful processing innovative technologies.

This is bully quality for those with reduced mobility, particularly if surviving successful municipality centers. Despite galore important advancements implicit the past decade, mobility challenges proceed to forestall disabled persons from participating successful nine connected adjacent terms.

A self-driving pay-as-you-use approach

"We request mobility solutions for disabled and aged radical that beforehand their societal inclusion successful municipality environments and let them to determination astir easy without the request for help," said Lai.

As coordinator of the FreeWheel project, helium spent much than a twelvemonth studying the needs and requirements of wheelchair users, processing a solution designed specifically for municipality environments.

The effect is simply a astute module combining electric power and autonomous driving successful a flexible plan that tin beryllium adapted to immoderate wheelchair. The astute module enables a manual wheelchair to beryllium driven done a peculiar app.

"The idiosyncratic simply sets the destination connected the wheelchair app, and the wheelchair gets determination each connected its own, adapting the way to debar immoderate fixed oregon mobile obstacles," explained Lai.

While the exertion itself is pioneering successful the wheelchair industry, the concern exemplary is possibly the astir innovative facet of FreeWheel. "Traditional business models for wheelchairs are based connected the merchantability of the instrumentality and truthful connected its possession," said Lai. "This implies an archetypal investment, which tin enactment arsenic a obstruction and leaves astir of the outgo of ownership to the extremity user."

Based connected principles of the collaborative economy, Lai plans to rotation retired a pay-per-use attack overmuch similar we spot with cars and bicycles successful galore European countries.

This means that the outgo of a wheelchair is covered done subscriptions that users wage erstwhile they usage it, making it perfect for renting connected a needs ground astatine a promenade oregon astatine a tourer site, explains Lai.

Simple yet brilliant

Motorisation and the summation of caller astute technologies has reinvented the wheelchair, and importantly improves the acquisition for wheelchair users.

But innovation tin besides beryllium "low-tech," arsenic successful the lawsuit of the Hungarian developers who were inspired by the humble bicycle.

It each began with Stringbike, a tiny institution successful Hungary. Ten years ago, they created a disturbance successful the cycling satellite erstwhile they unveiled their innovative chain-free bicycle, successful which the accepted bicycle concatenation is replaced by a enactment and pulley system.

"Normally utilized successful sailing, the drawstring makes for a quiet, oil-free and smoother cycling experience," explained József Kakas of Stringbike.

"One of our customers was a doc who suffered from genu problems, and helium told america it was easier for him to thrust a Stringbike than a accepted bicycle due to the fact that helium experienced little pain. So this inspired america to usage our exertion for aesculapian purposes."

Fast-forward to 2019 erstwhile their innovative tiny and mean sized (SME) institution secured Horizon 2020 backing for the STRINGHANDBIKE project. The task focusses connected 3 caller products designed specifically for radical with mobility challenges: Stringchair, StringHandbike and a tricycle, each based connected the company's proprietary string-pulley solution.

They recovered that with a accepted manual wheelchair, the user's arms are nether a batch of stress. Reaching down to propel the seat guardant causes enarthrosis pain. In the 3 STRINGBIKE creations, the user's arms scope forward, and the wheelchair is powered by the pushing and pulling of a lever. This reduces the unit applied connected the enarthrosis joints compared to modular manual wheelchairs.

"There are immoderate wheelchair users who cannot scope backmost with their arms to interaction the instrumentality successful the accepted manual wheelchair but who would beryllium capable to usage a lever successful beforehand of them," said Kakas. "So a larger radical of radical with mobility challenges volition beryllium capable to usage our products manually."

The Stringchair and StringHandbike are disposable arsenic kits to connect to a wheelchair, truthful that each the functions of the accepted wheelchair are maintained. They tin beryllium utilized some indoor and outdoor, and arsenic a aesculapian instrumentality for mundane use. The Stringchair is present a registered aesculapian instrumentality successful the European Union, a measurement that volition soon travel for the StringHandbike.

Whether powered by apps oregon strings, wheelchair exertion is perpetually improving. The FreeWheel and STRINGBIKE solutions are conscionable 2 examples of however disability-inclusive improvement is breaking down barriers to societal inclusion for millions of disabled persons.

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