DAY 1

Goal

Create  a low-cost power wheelchair from an existing manual wheelchair motorizing it  with an  electric scooter.

User study

To specify needs regarding this project, we made an audit of 4 disabled people using wheelchair who were part of the team .

From the interviews we concluded that 3 out of 4 could use manual direction. The 4th interview was a girl with muscular dystrophy and hence depended on a joystick.

We were looking at two different categories of disability and had to narrow down to a more specific target segment.

Target segment : people who use the wheelchair and have body strength as well.

Specifications:

Design a universal, and cost-effective power attachment to convert a manual wheelchair to an automated power wheelchair based on an electric scooter.

3 of the 4 people did not want to have the electric scooter handlebars in front of them, so it was decided to put the motor with a 5th wheel at the back of the wheelchair and to control direction of the wheelchair with hands, including braking.

Primary needs

Comfortable
stable
Foldability of the wheel and the wheelchair unaffected
Easy to drive
5th wheel should be thick 
Can be easy to attach and detach

Universal

Secondary needs

Horn
Impact resistant
waterproof electrical unit
Not too much weight gain

Add ons (optional)

Accessory space
storage space
speedometer
headlights