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One of the Wednesday discussion sections played the SQUID game (Gamestorming, page 208) applied to Elizabeth Montano's project to improve wheelchairs.
The group posted questions on pink Post-it notes and answers on blue Post-it notes, as shown below.
| Q1. How is it powered? |
A1a. Manual |
Q2a. Feasible? |
A2a. No |
| A1b. Electric |
Q2b. Feasible? |
A2b. Yes |
| Q3. How is it controlled? |
A3a. Manual |
Q4a. What about people with no use of arms/hands? |
| A3b. Mind Power |
Q4b. How Good? |
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| A3c. Mouth/Vocal/Tongue |
Q4c. How Good? |
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| A3d. Eyes |
Q4d. How Good? |
| Q5. What is the hardest task for people in wheelchairs? |
A5a. Doors |
Q6. Current Doors OK? |
| A5b. Weather |
Q7. How much would canopy cost? |
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| Q8. What about ice? |
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| A5c. Terrain |
Q8. What about ice? |
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| Q9. Uneven terrain/curbs? |
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| A5d. Stairs |
Q10. What is cost of stair climbing? |
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| A5e. Vehicle |
Q11. What are current problems/solutions? |
A11a. Transfer from chair to vehicle |
| A11b. Vehicles adapted to chair |
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| A11c. Collapsable chair |
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| A11d. On demand wheelchair delvery |
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| A5f. Other Building |
Q12. What other problems in buildings? |
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| A5g. Seating (auditoriums, theaters, etc.) |
Q13. How bad is this problem? |
The class discussed many questions related to improved wheelchairs which would apply to each design. These sorted into problems with the specs on wheelchairs and other considerations, as shown. Questions sent to the Parking Lot are to be investigated later, after the specs are developed.
| Specs | Power | What is the power source? How much power does each new design use compared to current designs? |
| Materials | What is it made of? | |
| Dimensions | How do dimensions compare to current wheelchairs? | |
| What is the limiting dimension in wheelchairs? (e.g. width of doorways) |
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| What are the collapsed dimenstions? | ||
| Performance - How does each new design perform in comparison to current designs? | Vehicles | |
| Stairs | ||
| Doors | ||
| Buildings | ||
| Esthetics | Does it look cool? | |
| Green | How environmentally sensitive is the design? | |
| R & D | Does a design use available technology, or is more research needed? | |
| Cost | How much will it cost? | (Parking Lot) |
| How much will insurance pay? | (Parking Lot) | |
| Marketing | How will a new design be marketed? | (Parking Lot) |
There are a number of projects to develop powered exoskeletons to enable paraplegics to walk.
ReWalk - website with video.