Electric Wheelchair Future Technology

Aaron Fotheringham was competing against himself when he found a place in the Guinness book of records as the first person to complete a back flip in a wheelchair. He has been doing it ever since 2006 when he did it for the first time. But this time on October 25th, it is officially recorded.

Aaron Fotheringham suffers from a medical condition called spina bifida has been wheel chair bound for the last 3 years.

It was a risky move to complete this wheel chair stunt as he could have hurt himself in the event of losing his concentration or speed and falling on the ramp. Aaron Fotheringham fell and hit the ground a couple of times before he completed the back flip.

To watch video, visit this page.

When choosing, buying and using a product, never mind whether it is a electric wheelchair, mobility scooter, electric car or a glucose meter for diabetes… technology does play an important role, but what really makes or breaks user experience is the design.

Therefore we have to thank designers, that help push technology further every year - making it smaller, cooler, friendlier and more ergonomic… One of the biggest design contests for technology is the Autodesk's Inventor Student Design Competition organized by Technische Universiteit of Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

This year a team of Polish design students (Michal Piersa, Milosz Jamrozy, Igor Modelski,Bogusz Radziemski, Rafal Krzysiak and Kamil Ruszczyk) from Politechnika Warszawska University won a grand prize for their design of futuristic wheelchair!

Quick inspection of design reveals that wheelchair is manual, designed to be driven by muscular force. The main invention is inclusion of gyroscope mounted underneath the centrally positioned seat. This concept is already known from Segway and some other stair climbing electric wheelchair models (check out our review of iBot). This allows wheelchair to remain vertically stable while only using two wheels. Hidden on the rendered picture, but visible when inspecting model in 3D (you can download the Autodesk's DWF file here for free), is the battery required to power the gyroscope. What kind of battery is used, is unknown, as this is

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As we cover technological breakthrough in mobility and accessible devices, most of our coverages are focused on new technology or some other improvements. One common thing to all these new and upcoming devices and solutions is that they are very expensive, carrying a price tag of many thousand dollars… Ingenuity of a charity Free wheelchair mission could challenge all commercial devices, and drop price point for wheelchairs dramatically! 

Many of us can not afford new electric wheelchair every time we wish to. Medicare and other insurance companies always seem to find a just reason to dodge the payment. But we are still scratching only the surface of the problem, as worldwide there are over 100 million people with need for a wheelchair (manual or electric), but can not afford it. Charity organization Free wheelchair mission is helping these poorest of the poor, by giving away wheelchairs for free. "So what?", you say. Sure, we have had charities and donations before, giving away wheelchairs, but mostly they can help a few, or mostly up to few dozen people. What sets Free wheelchair mission apart, is their plan, and their numbers. In last five years

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