Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

Electric powered wheelchairs are the only way of movement for too many disabled users. But motorized wheelchairs never really changed much from classical wheelchair design and concept – which is more than 100 years old.. Because of this, they are often also very expensive, and inaccessible to many, especially in developing countries.

But new concept designed by s Ju Hyun Lee, gives hope to change all that. Their proposal for solution is named NEWS (New Electric Wheelchairs) and is still in concept phase.

The main idea and technological breakthrough is that this is not selfstanding electric powered wheelchair, but rather an motorized wheelchair addon for existing manual wheelchairs. So it actually does not want to replace your existing electric wheelchair; rather it is attached to the standard wheelchair. NEWS gives instant electric motorized power to wheelchair.

Also the design of the concept is clean, well-thought and robust. It bring the design of 21st century to assistive devices. If NEWS concept becomes a reality, it will definitely change the industry.

Price wise not much is know, but it should not be expensive – meaning that once mass productions starts, we should see it at very competitive price point, which will make electric wheelchairs available to broader masses of people in need… Meaning it should be perfect for end users and also hospitals,therapy centers and nursing homes…

Honda announced the personal mobility device, the U3-X. Device looks like robotic unicycle, and is designed to help people with disabilities to move around. Honda will showcase U3-X personal mobility device at Tokyo Motor show later in October.

U3-X is based on technology developed in Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo. Honda is well known for its R&D in robotics and assistive technology, and although its announcements are many (see the one about artificial robotic leg) most of this is still years away from production and sale. Looks like Honda is competing heavily against local rival Toyota, which is also aggressive on robotics and research – and both move in similar direction (toyota shows segway personal transporter with seat, toyota and mind controlled wheelchair, toyota i-swing personal mobility device)…

Anyhow, U3-X is on contrary with Toyota’s i-Swing a small device, which is also very portable. It can be carried around and put in trunk with ease. U3-X has a seat height a bit higher than an average person’s waist line, so passenger must “jump” on it to commence the ride. Passenger then puts his his feet to the foot rests (similar as found on motor bikes). The rest is already known from segway – passenger leans in the direction he wants to go, and U3-X personal mobility device moves. It can drive in 8 directions (cross and diagonally as well) and reaches a top speed of 3,7 MHP (5,5 km/h) – meaning that it moves at pace of average persons walk.

Honda’s chairman Takanobu Ito commented that “And if my legs get a little weak, I would like to have one of these around the house. It makes it easy to move about.”. We guess he has a big house… Honda did not want to comment on price and availability of the U3-X nor any plans to produce similar versions of power wheel chair or electric wheel chair devices like toyota i-swing where user sits and leans back on it…

See link to video on the next page.

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Devices controlled with brain-waves are becoming a reality. On Monday, June 29th 2009, Toyota demonstrated an electric wheelchair, controlled by user’s brain waves. Approach is similar to other stories we covered in past (Live demo of mind-controlled electric wheelchair, Brain Controlled Electric Wheelchair and Mind Controlled Mouse Pointer (part 1), Brain Controlled Electric Wheelchair and Mind Computer Mouse Pointer (part 3 + The conclusion), Intelligent Autonomous Remote Controlled Electric Wheelchair).

User still needs to attach sensor grid on the head. The EEG sensor cap  measures electrical activity in the brain through five electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes. These are placed above the areas of the brain which handle motor movement. The sensors interpret the signals they pick up and translate them into motion.   System processes thought patterns without learning or training and translates them into movement of wheelchair. Electric wheelchair can accordingly move left, right or forward. Sensory system is processing data in real time, so delay between the thought and action of wheelchair is less than 125 ms. Competitive solutions require substantially more time – growing to seconds, which makes movement less natural and more difficult. Toyota’s solution (well, actually Toyota is only a sponsor of researchers from BSI-Toyota collaboration center) does not require the driver to learn special “signals”, but instead this mind-controlled electrical wheelchair will move forward when driver thinks of walking. According to Toyota the wheelchair is able to understand a record 95% of all commands coming from the drivers.

Toyota representatives described growing demand on similar accessibility products by Japan’s growing older population (in 40 years the percentage of seniors will account for more than 40% of Japanese population). Thinking is natural, and requires less learning so  brain-machine interface system will be more robust and simpler than voice-controlled system. System even “learns” by analyzing the behavior of the driver, which means that driver can improve the accuracy over time.

Japan has been always very strong in advanced robotics, and recent encourage by government fueled new research and development even further. It comes as no surprise, that other Japanese companies like Honda and Hitachi, are also working on brain-wave-machine technologies.

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This is a bit older news, but somehow it got unnoticed by us at the time of launch… But still it is so interesting, that we are fixing our mistake and running a story! French company named HMC2Development has launched a stair-walking motorized wheel chair named TOPCHAIR in mid 2007! The motorized wheel chair was in development since 2001. This was even before the well known and world-wide appraised iBot Electric electric wheelchair… But the iBOT is a wheelchair that runs on wheels, and was first developed in 90s. While it can actually rise up on the rear wheels to attain a stand position and also has a certain capabilities of climbing stairs, the fact that it runs on wheels, makes this type of wheelchair less stable and so it has its limitations compared to the Top chair stair climbing wheelchair.

Topchair uses different approach to conquering the stairs, as it uses rubber tracks similar to those found in tanks. This technology allows Topchair motorized wheel chair to go up or down the 20 cm high step (8 inch) made from metal or wood or concrete with maximum slope of 33° (65%). It does so while user sits comfortably and safely onboard without any help of  fixed structure like a ramp and with no need for an attendant.

Topchair uses two 60 Ah gel batteries, allowing it 35 km driving authonomy or over 300 steps in a single charge.

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You are a big, strong person.  All your life you’ve been known as rugged, out of doors, and powerful.  Your first toy was a fire engine, your first pet was a husky, and when you got your first car, it was a truck.  You know all the back roads by heart and you’ve never let anything get in your way for long.  Now, life has put a new obstacle in your path; physical disability.  Are you the type of person that is going to let that slow you down?  Doesn’t sound like it to me!  If life says you need a wheelchair, then you should demand one that matches who you are.  A heavy duty person needs a heavy duty wheelchair.

The difference between a normal or electric chair and their heavy duty counterparts lies mainly in the construction.  A conventional wheelchair will work soundly for many years on pavement, asphalt and indoors.  They are meant for mainly urban and suburban environments.  But try and take a conventional model down a trail, or over other bumpy terrain, and more than likely it can break.

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Be it from injury, illness, or simply the wear and tear of old age, you now need a wheelchair in your everyday life.  You’re means of moving around may have changed, but regardless of your situation, you are still the same person with the same style and look that you have cultivated your entire life.  Depending on the type of wheelchair you pick, it too can be a part of your style.  Why not try a jazzy wheelchair?

Everything you wear and do says a lot about you as a person.  Instead of looking at your wheelchair as a handicap, why not embrace it as a new, stylish accessory?  Find a shape and level that matches your own personal look, pair that with the right color scheme, and you’ll find yourself way ahead of the game!

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Finding out that you will be living with a disability can be a devastating, traumatic event.  It means changes in your life in many ways.  Many will be difficult at first, but not all of these changes are bad.  Acceptance of your disability is the first step towards emotional recovery, and with that acceptance comes the realization that when life gives you lemons, it also gives you all of the ingredients to make lemonade.

Life in a medical wheelchair offers a unique perspective.  While it would be easy to focus on the negative, and say that what the standing can see, the seated cannot, the opposite is also equally true.  What can be seen from a chair cannot be seen by the standing.  Your view of the world may be slightly different, but you are still looking at the same beautiful, varied and fluid sphere.  Take the time to appreciate what you can see.  Realize that this consciousness is a gift, and use that awareness to take pleasure in things that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

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The questions surrounding wheelchair mobility are many and varied.  Where can and can’t a person in a wheelchair go?  What sort and quality of ride should be expected?  How much of an expense will maintenance and repairs be?  How does the quality of certain kinds of wheelchairs match up?  As with any question of this magnitude, you should ask a doctor or other professional to advise you on the specifics of your situation.  Nevertheless, there are a number of general guidelines that you can learn on your own.

A wheelchair is really only as capable as the terrain it is going over.  Think of it as a car.  You may have the nicest Humvee and the best driving skill, but if the road isn’t passable, none of that matters.  This is true of wheelchairs just as it is true of people walking.  So, your wheelchair mobility is more a question of the decisions you make regarding where you take your chair.

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The shape of the Toyota i-swing looks like it is something that we wear and does not give the feeling of something that we drive. This model was first came into prominence in the Auto Show at Tokyo in 2005, and was showed again in perfected form in late 2008. The straight two wheeler model occupies very less space on the crowd filled places like sidewalk, etc. It helps you in gliding at a decent pace and on an even pace to that the partner you are having a conversation with. If you want to increase the speed, you can convert into three wheeled model and can be driven easily on the road. It has an inbuilt AI which helps in learning the habit of ours and the personal preferences making it just as an extension of your own self.

This model of Toyota i-swing will help us never having to walk anywhere else with its multi mode conversion options. Thus with its two-wheeled mode you can use it when you are walking and if you want move faster or drive at the regular speed. It actually gives us a wearable sort of feeling when using it. This would surely become an alternative to car in the very distant future.

The long term work of Toyota on single person travel vehicle has got its shape in the form of Toyota i-swing. This is also the result of their long drawn research that they put in on personal mobility vehicles.

The control of this i-swing is in the form of joysticks, actually with two of them. They maximum speed that this i-swing can achieve is 36 mph. It is tentatively priced at between $7000 to $8000. But what makes this really unsafe is the fact that driving at 36 mph without any protection or airbags. Thus Toyota has to work on this fact before they actually bring this into market.

More info at Toyota.

It always amazes me, how some companies know how to sell their goods. And electric wheelchair – pardon me – powerchair makers are no exception. Take look at this 2 minute Hoveround commercial, and see for yourself – they offer you free video, free test drive and bunch of other free stuff – just to call them. And if you have problems walking around the house or doing work – you most probably qualify for some discount or even have a chance to get this electric wheelchair for free…. BTW – want to know difference between electric wheelchair and powerchair? Click here.

If you have this powerchair, or know someone who has – please let us know, we are interested for a review.