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When she designed a school that would give physically challenged kids the same access as others for her final-year Architecture project, Shanu Sharma realised there was a need for a product that helped a disabled person feel included in all environments.
Sharma, now studying industrial design at IIT Kanpur, designed the Vardaan, a wheelchair that can climb stairs. Its three-pronged wheels work on the same principle as the human foot: heel first, then toe.
I watched how a child climbed stairs by hauling himself up and down. A lever drags the wheel in the same way,” she says. Sharma received funding from the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology and has now designed another wheelchair that can run on the ground as well as climb stairs.
Status:
The chair has been tested by the disabled on the IIT campus. She hopes she will soon get funding to mass produce it.
"Right now, I need a collaboration with an R&D firm that can help me improve this design, which has its flaws (it needs a disabled person with good upper-body strength to operate it). Once it's foolproof, I want to make sure it doesn’t cost more than Rs. 20,000."
Published Link : http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/brunch-stories/awesome-new-ideas-for-a-better-tomorrow/article1-1290812.aspx