Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

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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Today experts from Veda International Robot Research and Development Centre in Japan, unvieled the prototype of a new type of electric wheelchair. New, high tech robotic wheelchair looks more like a scooter than traditional wheelchair, but it promises greater mobility for injured hospitalized patients, and hopes to replace not only existing wheelchairs but also two-wheeled vehicles of future.

New electric wheelchair is called Rodem. User sits on the four-wheeled wheelchair similar like on scooter. User rests his knees and chest on the cushions, steering the wheelchair with a joystick wile holding on to motorbike-style handles. The result is that user feels less load on their body.  

The whole new approach to electric wheelchair design allows users to mount the device more easily, and dismount it quickly and with less strain and pain as well. Target audience are elderly, hospitalized for smaller injuries which prevent them from freely moving around without help. Rodem is lessening reliance on care-givers to lift these patients.

Rodem promises greater mobility. Its prototype was demonstrated in the medical university in Tokyo. The two main wheels of the Rodem are independently driven by a control valve type lead battery. Autonomy of the electric wheelchair is around four hours per charge. Maximum moving speed is 6km/h, but can be set to lower limits as well. The dimensions of the Rodem are equivalent to the size of a normal wheelchair, and it weights about 200 lbs (100kg). It also features small minimum turning diameter.

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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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Owning a portable wheelchair is an important first step towards reclaiming the independence that a disability can take away from you.  Mobility is often times a challenge for the disabled, but it need not be.  Putting an emphasis on portability instead of overall ability can change one’s entire outlook on life.

Owning a portable wheelchair means several things, some of them bad, but many of them positive. Consider that most wheelchairs can be a two person undertaking.  This means that while in your chair, you will have a friend, family member or loved one always behind you, helping you on your way.  For many, this is very comforting.  Companionship of this sort will also help to bring you closer to those around you, and help elucidate the many reasons to be happy that these people are in your life.

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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.

Honda is constantly working on making a device that gives the user an advantage in regular movements, and this device will add up to the strength and also reduce the stress caused by physical exertions. It came up from the advanced research done by Honda for the upcoming robot ASIMO. While Honda’s robotic leg will not totally mobilize electric wheelchair bound users, it might offer new level of freedom to all with minor disabilities.

This suit will be first tested by Honda at the Honda car assembly plant in Saitama. It will help the workers in reducing the work stress and will lower the number of injuries. Also there is some Japanese firm that is coming up such metal suits but not very closer to reality. Cyberdyne Corp. has already come up with one such device with both legs and is now planning for both arms and legs. This suit will help users not get stressed and will increase their strength in multiples. Similar prosthetic device was announced recently by ReWalk.

Honda has taken the initiative basically to help the users who are handicapped. They are producing robotic movement assistance devices keeping in mind the needs of handicaps. This new robotic leg will help the users normal movement, it will just push some force to reduce the stress on the joints while making movements like walking, climbing stairs or semi crouching. Honda is aiming towards making the robotic leg more towards real world situations. Honda has made the device quite simpler than the cyberdyne’s one. It basically consists of a seat, frame and shoes. To use the device, user has to put the shoes on and then lift the seat into position. After wearing the device it takes off the stress from muscles of knee, joints and hips.

Honda made the medium size suit for people in the height range of 5′ 6" to 5′ 10". The weight specifications are 6.5 Kg. also Honda said that the suit is partially self-supporting as it has two motors. These motors run on Lithium ion battery that can run for 2 hours on a single charge. Honda says that the product is superior to the competitor as it supports the natural motion. The assistance that is provided is in concert with leg and is aimed towards the user’s center of gravity. Due to this factor the motion provided by the motor is unique and natural says Honda.

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