Development and Evaluation of Pneumatic Powered Mobility Devices

The performance of battery-powered mobility devices (PMDs) has continually improved since their invention in the 1950s due to advances in electronics and their control systems. Yet they continue to experience increases in repairs and utilize battery technologies that require long recharge times and frequent, expensive replacement. Although advances in battery technologies are ongoing, the technology is expensive and raises safety concerns. The need for the development of alternative power sources has been voiced by consumers as well as providers of PMDs. Alternative forms of power need to be researched to further improve the performance of powered mobility devices. The purpose of this project was to develop a novel power system for powered mobility devices driven by compressed air and evaluate its performance in a real-world setting. This was accomplished by following the product development process with the addition of participatory action design to maximize the potential for meeting end user’s needs. Through the development of several iterations of mobility scooter prototypes, a pneumatic-powered system was created and optimized for efficiency. The results of the mobility scooter developments were later incorporated into the design of a powered wheelchair configuration. The two types of mobility devices were tested using ISO Wheelchair Standards to evaluate their safety, durability and maneuverability of which both devices performed comparatively to their battery-powered equivalents. Additionally, a pneumatic-powered shopping cart configuration was created to test its usage in a grocery store setting. K-Means clustering analysis was performed to evaluate whether certain demographics of individuals preferred to use the pneumatic-powered cart versus the battery-powered cart of which the results revealed individuals younger than 54 years old and those who do not own a mobility device preferred to use the pneumatic-powered shopping cart over the battery-powered shopping cart. Overall, the feasibility for pneumatic-powered mobility devices to serve as an alternative to battery-powered mobility devices is plausible. Although, further improvements as well as additional pilot tests are needed prior to commercialization

Design and Development of the Mobility Enhancement Robotic Wheelchair

The electric powered wheelchair (EPW) currently provides mobility for an estimated 330,000 people with disabilities in the USA and is expected to rise due to the aging of the baby boomers and injured troops returning from war. Even though the EPW was developed to provide an increase in mobility, current designs are primarily for usage in indoor environments. As a result, when users leave the confines of their home they may encounter hazardous environments such as uneven terrain and architectural barriers. These types of environments increase the users’ risk of tipping or falling out of the wheelchair which may lead to serious injury or death. The Mobility Enhancement Robotic Wheelchair (MEBot) was developed to increase user safety and to provide the ability to overcome uneven terrain and architectural barriers. MEBot provides advanced features to increase the users’ safety including self-leveling, curb climbing, and driving wheel position selection. The self-leveling feature maintains the position of the seating system when driving up, down, or across slopes which decreases the possibility of the user tipping or falling out of the wheelchair. The curb climbing feature allows the user to overcome up to an 8 inch curb. Finally, selecting the driving wheel position allows the user to configure MEBot as either a front wheel drive, mid wheel drive, or rear wheel drive power chair. With the addition of the advanced features, MEBot increases the safety and ability of the user to drive in outdoor environments while maintaining maneuverability when used in an indoor environment