Design improvement on a wheelchair with addition of a semi-auto lift mechanism

Abstract

This project is about the design improvement on a wheelchair with the addition of a semiauto lift mechanism. This study is focused on Paraplegia Patients because they are the major wheelchair users. Nowadays, wheelchair seats of the common wheelchairs found in the market was not adjustable and lack of flexibility. Most of the wheelchair users face the difficulty of reaching stuff located high places. So, to counter these problems, the aim of this project is to design an adjustable wheelchair seat and make the wheelchair seat easy to control. A questionnaire has been designed and distributed to wheelchair users in order to collect data on customer needs and apply them for concept generation through Quality Function Deployment (QFD). Screening and scoring methods are used to select one final concept design among the three concepts generated. Then, engineering analysis and ergonomic assessment have been performed for the final design concept in order to determine the parametric values and the risk level of the proposed design. The simulation result obtained is attached to engineering details drawing. Next, the product is fabricated and tested by users for functional testing, ergonomic assessment and FMEA. The result shows that the improved has satisfied the functional and ergonomic requirements. The semi-auto lift mechanism provides an elevation of 9 cm seat height achievement. Based on economic analysis, the proposed price for the product is RM 1190. In conclusion, both of the objectives of the project as mentioned earlier have been achieved