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Interconvertible Wheelchair/crutches
Project Description :

For people disabled below the waist, mobility is a large problem. over the years, technology has led to the development of certain mobility assisting devices. currently, mobility aids such as wheelchairs and crutches are most widely used by affected people, but they too do not alleviate the issue to an extent where the disabled feel they can carry out tasks like normal, non disabled persons. on one hand, crutches, although providing a fair bit of freedom to the user, limit their upper body usage to a large extent. besides this, they lead to calluses in the palms, and are tiring to use after travelling a certain distance, or for a certain period of time. there also exists the danger of slipping and causing additional damage to the body when it rains. they are also unusable by overweight people, who have no option but to use wheelchairs. on the other hand, wheelchairs, which provide more comfort than crutches, also have their share of disadvantages. they do not possess the ability to move through undulating or rocky terrain. climbing stairs or steep slopes is almost an impossibility for wheelchair users. there also exists the issue of freedom, as at most times, non-motorized wheelchair users require the aid of another person to help them with mobility. cost is also a major issue, as many people around the world are unable to purchase and maintain a wheelchair for daily use, without financial aid. there exists a dire need for a new mobility assisting device, one that can solve issues with the existing, individual devices. we set out to find a solution to this problem, to make mobility easier for the disabled. to achieve this objective, it was decided that we make a device that incorporates the pros of both these well established devices (wheelchairs and crutches). we started by validating the problem by talking to disability affected people, who currently use crutches and wheelchairs as their major mobility aid. apart from confirming the issues related to their mobility devices, they also concurred that if a device could be created, that could function as both crutches and a wheelchair, it would make moving around need much less effort. to conceptualize such a device, designs of wheelchairs and crutches were scrutinized. vital parts and joints were identified from these, and only those were included in our design, as it needs to be as lightweight as possible. the final design was arrived at after multiple iterations. our device has the capability to function either as crutches or a wheelchair, as per the need. it can be easily converted between the two forms. the wheels of the wheelchair are detachable, for easy use of the crutches. a prototype has been made using wood, along with steel joints. the current prototype requires about 2 minutes to completely transform from crutches to a wheelchair. we have also conceptualized and modeled collapsible wheels, which when manufactured, can be left attached when the device is in the crutches configuration as well, without affecting its aesthetic properties. future work will mainly revolve around testing and deciding appropriate materials for the body and joints of the device. the mechanism of changing between the two configurations is also to be improved, to bring down the time and complexity of the transformation.

 
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Project Details :
  • Date : Dec 27,2015
  • Innovator : Jay Dedhia
  • Team Members : Zubin Mehta; Harshwardhan Singh; Prasad Chillapalli
  • College : IIT Bombay
  • University : IIT Bombay
  • Submission Year : 2016
  • Category : Design
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