“But, I Don’t Want/Need a Power Wheelchair”: Toward Accessible Power Assistance for Manual Wheelchairs

Power assist devices help manual wheelchair users to propel their wheelchair thus increasing their independence and reducing the risk of upper limb injuries due to excessive use. These benefits can be invaluable for people that already have upper limb joint pain and reduced muscular strength. However, it is not clear if the way that assistance is provided by such devices is what manual wheelchair users need and expect. 12 manual wheelchair users were interviewed to understand: the situations in which they find it difficult to propel their wheelchairs; situations they considered paramount to have power assistance; their experience or knowledge of power assist devices; and likes and dislikes of commercially available power assist devices. Finally, they were asked to comment on their ideal form factor of a power assist device. Users have suggested improvements of the devices' accessibility and visualized new ways in which they could interact with the technology. These interactions involve "chairable" devices independent from, but not excluding, wearable devices and mobile applications. We have identified the need of monitoring emotions and the need for designing an open source do-it-yourself wheelchair propelling assistance device which we believe is required equally in developed and in developing countries

Next Generation Bike Sharing Design Concept using axiomatic design theory

Bike sharing systems have been in use since the 1960’s, from the modest beginning to one of the fastest spreading services today. Each generation of bike sharing systems had its challenges, but the advancement in technology was and is a key factor in eliminating any short comings or problem facing it as well as opening new opportunities for enhancing the service and the user experience. The main focus of this thesis is to propose a new design concept of bike sharing system using axiomatic design theory, the concept consist of a modified bike sharing model that can help solve some of the challenges faced by the traditional models while meeting the customer’s needs and the basic functional requirements of a traditional bake sharing program. Axiomatic design theory provides a method for the design of products, it makes it possible to design structure and decompose function at the same time. Utilizing currently available technologies such as electrical components and global positioning systems, the new system will include a new design for the bike, the docking station, central control station, and payment systems.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Next Generation Bike Sharing Design Concept using axiomatic design theory

Bike sharing systems have been in use since the 1960’s, from the modest beginning to one of the fastest spreading services today. Each generation of bike sharing systems had its challenges, but the advancement in technology was and is a key factor in eliminating any short comings or problem facing it as well as opening new opportunities for enhancing the service and the user experience. The main focus of this thesis is to propose a new design concept of bike sharing system using axiomatic design theory, the concept consist of a modified bike sharing model that can help solve some of the challenges faced by the traditional models while meeting the customer’s needs and the basic functional requirements of a traditional bake sharing program. Axiomatic design theory provides a method for the design of products, it makes it possible to design structure and decompose function at the same time. Utilizing currently available technologies such as electrical components and global positioning systems, the new system will include a new design for the bike, the docking station, central control station, and payment systems.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Autonomy and User Experience Enhancement Control of an Electrically Assisted Bicycle with Dual-wheel Drive

International audienceThis paper presents a control strategy study of a dual-wheel drive electric bicycle by taking the human-bicycle coupling into consideration. Containing two electric motors (one on the hub of each wheel), the bicycle is controlled by a fuzzy controller which ensure a sharing of the total power between the front and rear motors. The goal of this paper is to develop a control method for an electric bicycle with regenerative braking and dual-wheel drive. The proposed method can achieve a better user experience (response time and speed control) than the one currently proposed to the market. The two motors are controlled by two separate torque references and the control algorithm is carefully designed in order to consider the coupling between human reaction time and motor driving response time. In addition, both wheels are equipped with kinetic energy recovering breaks allowing an increased autonomy. The developed controller has also the ability to adapt different road conditions, in the objective of user experience improvement and power saving