High School Student Designs a 'Wheelchair' That Lets Users Stand Up
From: IEEE - The Institute - 07/15/2015
By: John R. Platt

His technology wins him the IEEE Presidents’ Scholarship

Alex Tacescu, a 17-year-old, who enters his senior year in September at
Clovis North High School, in Fresno, CA and robotics enthusiast, set out in
July 2014 to build a mobility vehicle to help his grandfather with
Parkinson's disease and others with similar disabilities. He knew that two-
and four-wheeled mobility walkers were slow and cumbersome and required a lot
of effort to get around. Wheelchairs, meanwhile, have problems in tight
spaces, can’t turn well, and can allow users' leg muscles to atrophy. They
also force disabled people to sit in a world that is otherwise standing. He
thought he could overcome the shortcomings of these devices by combining them.

And though his design, which he calls Project Maverick, is not yet completely
built, he showed enough of it at the Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh in May to win the US $10,000 IEEE Presidents’
Scholarship. Tacescu’s project will let users stand upright while moving
around on a wheeled, motorized, 0.6- by 0.6-meter platform. Its top speed
would be about 5 kilometers per hour, comparable to preferred walking speed.
As conceived, it's akin to a Segway but more stable, with four wheels instead
of two, and each powered by two independently controlled motors, for steering
and driving.

Tacescu's project will let users stand upright while moving around on a
wheeled, motorized, 0.6- by 0.6-meter platform. Its top speed would be about
5 kilometers per hour, comparable to preferred walking speed. As conceived,
it’s akin to a Segway but more stable, with four wheels instead of two, and
each powered by two independently controlled motors, for steering and driving.

In addition to an electronic joystick that lets the user control the vehicle,
Tacescu also incorporates a Linux-based controller that enables features such
as collision detection and autopiloting through tight spaces. Technologies
similar to these are now becoming available in today's automobiles. 

Read the entire article at:
http://theinstitute.ieee.org/career-and-education/preuniversity-education/high-school-student-designs-a-wheelchair-that-lets-users-stand-up

Link:
Project Maverick
http://pmaverick.weebly.com/

Related:
Communication Device for Deaf and Blind Wins IEEE Presidents' Scholarship
http://theinstitute.ieee.org/career-and-education/preuniversity-education/communication-device-for-deaf-and-blind-wins-ieee-presidents-scholarship