Scootie - A cost-effective Wheelchair Transforming System

Votes: 3
Views: 1092

Scootie is a portable and affordable wheelchair transforming system that can turn a manual wheelchair into a motorized wheelchair. It allows users to travel in comfort and with less effort; improves their mobility, social participation and quality of life. To achieve a truly cost-effective solution, unnecessary feature is eliminated and replaced by a more demanded feature based on the feedback collected. Besides, the system will be modified to a more compact design when advanced material and manufacturing capability are available.

How does it work?
The system adopted a similar operating design as a scooter or e-bike. Power throttle, brake throttle, lever brake and LCD display are mounted on the handlebar as a control panel to provide necessary controls and information to drive the wheelchair. All the electronic components are connected to the speed controller which acts like a motherboard of the system. The clamp rods are extendable so that the system is compatible for a wide range of wheelchairs. The handlebar is also adjustable to cater to users with different heights and arm lengths. When assembly process is done, the user would just have to turn on the system through the control panel. The GPS location can be accessed just by downloading GPS tracking app on mobile device. The driving force come from a 350W 36V wheel hub motor located at the front of the system while electric power supplied by a 36V 12Ah lithium battery. This allows the system to operate up to 120 minutes or travel range of 24km.  

How is it innovative? (Selling Points)

  1. Portability-Scootie unlike existing bulky motorised wheelchair, is able to be detached from the wheelchair and further breakdown into 2 individual assembly to enhance the portability.
  2. Lightweight-The prototype is mainly made up of material with high strength to weight ratio. It is approximately 50% lighter than average weight of common electric wheelchair.
  3. Pricing-During the design stage, commonly available materials were selected to reduce the material cost. Furthermore, by adopting the strategy that focus on the essential feature and eliminate the less used feature, the price is 80% cheaper than similar competitor's product.
  4. User-Friendly Controller-Scootie has adopted push-throttle control system which is an easy learned system instead of using joystick in the common electric wheelchairs. We see this as a very competitive feature especially for old age group as they often have difficulty on operating the joystick controller.

Marketing Strategy
Scootie eliminated fancy features and focused on the essentials to offer the best price to the customers. To ensure the sustainability of product and business, trade-in program will be introduced, hence the material and parts can be refurbished and reused.

Manufacturing
The machining processes for the product involved cutting, drilling, lathing, milling and finishing. The assembly of parts are mostly done by welding to provide strong and rigid connection. Some of the components are joined by fasteners for the ease of dismantling and maintenance. The major electronic components will be stored in box to avoid contact with water as much as possible.

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  • ABOUT THE ENTRANT

  • Name:
    Jia Ting Han
  • Type of entry:
    team
    Team members:
    Teong Yi Wen
    Chin Hui Yin
    Eugene Goh Koon Lum
  • Profession:
    Student
  • Jia Ting is inspired by:
    The quality of life all around the world has been improving in line with the rapid development of the world and the raising awareness of human right. According to research, wheelchair-users experience avenues of stress that are unique to having a disability and multiple dimensions of life are affected. However, every individual has the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health, wheelchair user is no exception. Thus, our concept is the beginning of a series of sporty, unique and user-friendly transforming system that help people with lower limb disability travel without experiencing fatigue and make more places accessible for them. We want to let more wheelchair user have access to motorized wheelchair by building a low-cost wheelchair transforming system that is affordable by all income groups.
  • Software used for this entry:
    Solidworks and ANSYS
  • Patent status:
    none