I Can Move

Inspiration

A vast majority of wheelchair users struggle to push their chairs around due to weak hands or weak physique. In average, there are about 3000 people in 1 million who tackles such problems. These are people with spinal cord injury, stroke, muscular dystrophies, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, elderly people etc.

The main solution for such people is electric wheelchair. But this sets several limits for them: due to its weight (100-150 kg) every single step is difficult to take; due to its size and weight it cannot be transported using a passenger car, which means that special transportation is needed in order to travel larger distances. Additionally, using a full-electric wheelchair turns the users physically inactive, which decreases their strength and physical conditions even further.

What it does

Our solution for the problem is the wheels for manual wheelchairs that are equipped with intra-hub electric motors. These wheels boost the thrusting and breaking force of weak hands. They are light weight, easily replaceable and support the physical activity of the users.

How we built it

Both wheels of the wheelchair will be conveniently equipped with intra-hub electric motor, batteries and control unit. Regular wheels of manual wheelchairs can be replaced with wheel hub drives, using the standard quick-release system. This allows these wheels to be used with most manual wheelchairs widely available on the market.

Challenges we ran into

Balancing solution for power-assist wheels, that keeps wheelchair always upright on inclining surfaces, is the main premise to create functionality that helps more easily moving up and down on the stairs. That’s the biggest challenge at the moment.

Accomplishments that we are proud of

We have custom designed electronics to drive the motors. Solution where wheelchair is remotely controlled with a smartphone. We have letters of interest from various organizations. And last but not least - we are proud of our team! That we have a team motivated and dedicated in this project.

What we learned

We learned that prototyping comes after prototyping that comes after prototyping. It means, the project will develop with the real work (development, testing, prototyping). Just talking doesn’t help. And it’s very importatnt to participate in different hackathons, it motivates the team and boosts the project. A week ago we won “Best implementation” title in TehnoHack in Tallinn and now we are here!

What's next for I Can Move

As you know, the biggest problem for people in wheelchair are stairs. With balancing solution power-assist wheels can keep the wheelchair always upright on inclining surfaces. That solution is necessary in order to create functionality that helps more easily moving up and down on the stairs.

Also, the mobile app will collect data from power-assist wheels that is needed by doctors and physiotherapists because in the rehabilitation progress it’s important to find the best posture, technique and physical effort for wheelchair users. Data collected from our power-assist wheels by our mobile application will help them.