Motorized wheelchair built from LEGO pieces

motorized-wheelchair-built-from-LEGO

You're certainly not going to sneak up on anyone if using this LEGO motorized wheelchair. The high-pitched whine of all those tiny motors sounds like an army of robotic mosquitoes out for blood. Six of the LEGO Mindstorm bricks are used to drive the motors, with a seventh acting as the master. It's not pictured above, but there is a joystick on the right hand side which allows the rider to … [Read more...]

Robotic assist helps paraplegic stand and move around

robotic-assist-helps-parapalegic-stand

Seeing this device help a man get up out of his wheelchair makes us wonder why this hasn't been around for ages. The design principles behind the Tek RMD greatly benefit those without use of their legs. But it's not just to help him stand, it also serves as motorized transport that makes bulky electric wheelchairs look so last century. Instead of having the support structure beneath the rider, … [Read more...]

Ignored disabled man builds his own damn elevator

diy_wheelchair_lift

There’s an old saying that goes something like, “When the going gets tough, the tough builds their own 5-story wheelchair lift." Actually we’re pretty sure that’s not even close to how the saying goes, but when his local council turned their backs on [Dmitry Bibikow’s] request for wheelchair access to his apartment, that’s exactly what he did. [Dmitry], an avid mountaineer, was … [Read more...]

Making wheelchairs more safe through high visibility

lights_and_sounds_wheelchair

When traveling around the city or even rural areas in a wheelchair, we imagine it can be pretty easy to get overlooked. [Rui] was asked to add some lights and sounds to an electric wheelchair in order to ensure that its rider remained visible to those around him. The system uses several different components to ensure that the driver can be seen. The first is a message board strapped to the back … [Read more...]

Be lazy, and get somewhere at the same time

motorized-hammock

Cruise the beach in comfortable Jamaican style with this motorized hammock. [Stephen Shaffer] and his friends built it for the Red Bull Creation contest which has as its number one requirement, the need to include an Arduino. We're basically looking at a hammock frame made out of square pipe that has been put on wheels. Watch the video after the break to see the prototyping, construction, and … [Read more...]

EEG the Locomotion

Picture 4

The use of brainwaves as control parameters for electronic systems is becoming quite widespread. The types of signals that we have access to are still quite primitive compared to what we might aspire to in our cyberpunk fantasies, but they're a step in the right direction. A very tempting aspect of accessing brain signals is that it can be used to circumvent physical limitations. [Jerkey] … [Read more...]