Design detachable power pack for manual wheel chair

• Main Author: Loo, Yan Hui.
• Other Authors: Khong Poh Wah
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Assistive technology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45233
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Most of the people who are mobile impaired will choose to buy manual wheel chair because it is more economical. But sometimes, you will wish that it can be motorized when you are tired of pushing the wheelchair. That is when a Power Pack is needed to motorize the manual wheelchair. A Power Pack consists of batteries, motor, drive and controller. In addition to the power pack, there is an additional steering which helps to navigates the direction of the wheelchair. However, it requires the patient to exert strength to do the steering. Both the power pack and steering can be attached to the manual wheelchair manually when it is necessary. It will take about 5 minutes and requires strength to attach the Power Pack. This report has shown the process on how the design of the Power pack and Steering has been finalized. Firstly, for Product Definition, the existing products of electric wheelchairs are taken into consideration and the specifications for the power pack are defined. Secondly, The Conceptual Design phase allowed the student to explore alternative ways to create a power pack using existing solutions in the market. The best concept was then selected by employing the Matrix Evaluation Criteria. The improvement of the selected concept was continued under the Enhancement Design phase by identifying the complications on the use of the power pack. Thus, provides a solution for each problem. Lastly, under the Detailed Design, the final design of the power pack and steering are revealed with the aid of a 3D modeling software. In addition, all necessary engineering calculations, including all assumptions and bill of materials were shown.