EXTREME WHEELCHAIRSENIOR THESIS

ADAM SILVERSTEIN - IDUS431 - PROF. DAVID RINGHOLZ

TABLE OFCONTENTS

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INITIAL PROPOSAL 3

PROBLEM AND GOALS 4

RESEARCH 5 - 12

DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES 13

IDEATION 14 - 15

COMPONENT DESIGNS 16 - 27

FINAL DESIGN 28 - 32

UNIVERSAL APPLICATION 33

NEW PERCEPTION 34

SPECIAL THANKS 35

INITIALPROPOSAL

Emphasizing design’s ability to change lives, this project will give users restricted to a wheelchair, a chance to experience an extreme sport similar to skateboarding, rollerblading, and bmx riding. The project calls for a redesign of the manual wheel-chair, modified to take on the ramps and rails of a skate park. Through contextual re-search and extensive user testing, the crucial aspects required for this redesign will be identified. I will attempt to contact riders with experience in the sport, as their insights will further solidify the key opportunities for this wheelchair. Material application will be stressed as weight, durability, and price will all be key factors to a successful de-sign. The new design should have aesthetics that parallel the loud, fun, and exciting extreme sports culture. A retrofitted wheelchair will be made to test the results of the redesign at local skate parks. Once finalized, a detailed 3-D model will be created, and a 1:3 scale model will be printed. The end result will be a compelling design that will provide a unique opportunity and new inspiration for handicapped extreme sports fans.

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To design a product that would enable physically handicapped users to partake in an extreme sport, they would otherwise not be able to.

-Design a wheelchair that allows users to experience a unique ex-treme sport.

-Change perception of wheelchair users

-Develop new technology for this extreme condition, that can be universally to all wheelchair designs.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

GOALS

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The point of this project is not to create a product for mass consump-tion. The physical requirments for an extreme sport like this will only allow for a rather select number of target users. However, it is my hope that through their use of the product, that everyone can be effected. The ideal user for this product is as follows:

-Active and outgoing wheelchair users

-T1 to S5 spinal cord injuries

-Born with mobility impairing diseases such as Spina Bifida

-Male and Female

-Ages 10 - 35

TARGETUSERS

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BACKGROUND

“It’s estimated that there are more than 10,500 spinal cord injury cases per year in the United States, the majority of which (78%) involve males between the ages of 16-30.”

“There is a huge suicide rate, nearly 50% (of males), in the first five years of a new injury.”

“there are also subjective factors influencing the integration of wheelchair users into the labour market. These include employers’ attitudes towards wheelchair users and the passivity of disabled people themselves or their reluctance to get involved in working life.”

USER

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PERCEPTION

For many wheelchair users, self-perception can mean the difference between life and death. For people re-cently injured, the transition in lifestyle can be beyond devastating and lead to the loss of motivation to live. Evidence has shown that physical activities can lead to a significant increase in the confidence of wheelchair users. With the rapidly expanding popularity of the X-games, wheelchair skating is sure to attract the atten-tion of many extreme sports fans. For some, it may be a unique opportunity to take part in a sport they have always connected to, while for others, seeing it may be just the motivation they need to keep on going.

“The biggest scores in wheelchair hockey come in confidence”

“Research suggests that confidence is the most important predictor of future behavior.”

“the development of lifetime physical fitness behaviors, which can improve the overall quality of life and increase longevity”

CHANGING

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USER

In the design of a successful product, it is imparative that the designer has a thorough understanding of the people who will be using it. How the product interacts with their wants and needs is the true test of the design’s value. Because the target market for this prod-uct is rather specific, getting in touch with these users required a different apporoach than I had used in the past. Rather meeting with users face to face, I was fortunate to find an enthusastic online community of target users to provide me with feedback throughout the process. Among this group was an especially helpful person. Christiaan Bailey, was a pro-fessional surfer and skateboarder. After a fall he took skating 5 years ago, he found himself paralyzed from the waist down. Unwilling to give up on what he loved, he pioneered the sports of adapted surfing and wheelchair skat-ing. Today he continues to surf professionally, and is on tour chairskating. Christiaan consiti-tently provided me videos and feedback and in many ways helped to sculpt out the final design.

RESEARCH

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FIRST HAND

Inorder to gain an even greater understanding of the requirments for this design, I decided to get some first hand experience. I was able to get a hold of an older wheelchair, and take it to the local skatepark to give it a roll around. Though painstaking at times, I was able to identify a significant number of design opportunities. As the project progressed, I continued to modify the wheel-chair and test the usability of my concepts. This was especially important in sorting out my vast amount of initial concepts.

CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH

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PRODUCT

As the medical industry is one that has always been at the forefront of innovation, it was important for me to familiarize my self with everything that is already on the market to-day. Understanding these products strengths and shortcomings would be essential in the development of the new design. Here I looked at:

Existing wheelchairs

Specialized Chairs

Suspension Systems

Seating and Cushions

Frame Designs and Materials

Front Castors

Wheels and Tires

RESEARCH

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PRODUCT RESEARCH

It was also important to look at products used in sports that will parallal chairskating. As all ex-treme sports put their equiptment through exces-sive abuse, these products all implement unique ways of withstanding it.It was also important to note the aesthetics of the equiptment and how the reflect their sports cul-ture.

The products I looked at include:

Aggressive Rollerblades

BMX Bikes

Skateboard Components

Skateboarding Footwear

Snowboard Bindings

RELATED

OPPORTUNITIES

Decrease Weight

Increase Durability

Dampen Rider From Impacts

Increase Control of Rear Wheels

Improve Ability to Gain and Maintain Speed

Establish Aesthetics to Re-flect Extreme Sports Culture

DESIGN

These design opportunites are the foundation for the design to be built of off. It is essential for these aspects to be addressed if the final design is to be success-ful. From here I entered the ide-ation stage to attempt to solve these problems.

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IDEATION

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REAR WHEELSAND PUSHRIM

While testing the chair, I immediately noticed problems with the design of the pushrim. As I rolled, I would con-tinuously get my fingers caught in the attachment rods. The stainless steel material was also slippery when my hands were sweaty, giving me less control over the chair.

The redesigned pushrim is a more er-gonomic form that eliminates any con-nection gaps that might trap fingers. It is extruded in a rubberized silicon which would allows for better comfort and control while eliminating stress to the fingers palms and wrists. An anod-ized steel “crash guard” is inserted on the outside to protect the rim from the abuse of the park.

The wheel’s unique, woven spoke design allows for it to flex under the constant impacts of skatepark usage. An elastomer coating around the cen-ter hub assists in dampening harmful vibrations from rough surfaces.

Anodized Hub

ElastomerCoating

Anodized Crash Guard

Silicone Pushrim

Tri-FlexCarbon Fiber

Wheel

Solid Rubber Tires

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DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES: -Increased Durability -Decreased Weight -Dampen Impacts -Extreme Aesthetics -Increased Control

ElastomerCoating

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FRAME

Though the form is relatively conser-vative, it implements innovative and unique manufacturing techniques to create a frame that is exception-ally rigid and strong, while remain-ing lightweight. The tubing is custom extruded into an original shape found in high performance bicycle frames. Though more expensive then, the standard oval tubing typically used in wheelchair frames, the specially placed bends of the tubing allows for stress to be redirected for maximum efficiency. Internal butting, another manufacturing technique common in bicycle design, further eliminates weight by thinning the tubing wall thickness in areas of lease stress and thickening it only at the joints where it is needed. The suspension has been moved to the outside allowing for easier access to the air spring’s ad-justment dials.

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DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES: -Increase Durability -Decrease Weight -Dampen Impacts -Extreme Aesthetics

SEATAND CUSHIONS

The hybrid cushion design uses a quarter inch layer of impact gel at the base to dampen vibrations and protect against heavy impacts from landing. Above the gel is a layer of memory foam over an inch thick. The foam allows for the cushion to form to the user’s body, increasing comfort and securing the user’s position. The seat can be wrapped in a variety of mate-rials, from nylon, to neoprene, even leather depending on the user’s pref-erence. Simple snaps quickly and se-curely attach the cushion to the rigid seat for easy removal and cleaning.

The rigid seat attaches securely to the frame thanks to the flat geometry of the tubing. Sculpted of either polyeth-ylene plastic or higher performance carbon fiber, the seat features an aggressive aesthetic with anodized aluminum mesh inserts, and an ad-justable back.

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IMPACT GEL

FOAM

DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES: -Dampen Impacts -Extreme Aesthetics -Increase ControlMemory Foam

Imapct Gel

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GRIND PLATES

A significant aspect of nearly every extreme sport, from bmxing to snow-boarding, is grinding. Grinding is a trick where the rider uses their board, bike, or skates, to slide across a rail-ing or curb. Wheelchair skating is no different, however as the pioneers of this sport have began to experiment with techniques to get their chairs sliding, they have found the wear and tear it puts on their expensive frames detrimental.

Inspired by the grind plates of aggres-sive rollerblades, this design utilizes replaceable polyethylene inserts placed under the footrest and axel to take the substantial abuse of grind-ing, rather than the frame. Not only will this save the chair from irrepa-rable damage, but their Teflon coating will allow for smoother and quicker grinds than ever before. As the poly-ethylene begins to wear away it will also great a groove to help keep the rider locked in place.

AND FOOTRESTGRIND PLATES

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DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES: -Dampen Impacts -Extreme Aesthetics -Increase Control

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PUMPING

The essential aspect of almost every extreme sport is ability to pump. This action uses the redistribution of your weight to generate momentum, maintaining or increasing your speed. As seen in the diagram, bending of the knees is used to redistribute the riders weight, which proved to be a limitation in the wheelchair.

Push downward over rear truck at the point of greatest

Momentum is amplified as your bodies weight moves in the natural direction of the boards movement at the point of greatest slope

Push down

again on inclined

transition

THE RAMP

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PUMPING THE CHAIR

The final design uses a 4-point hinge and lever system to manually compress the chair’s suspension. This action causes the chairs seat to move downward over the axel, shifting the riders weight and “pumping the ramp.

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SUSPENSION TECH.INERTIAL

Handles sit in between the side pan-els and the rear wheels, in a position easy to grab, while unobtrusive to the rider.

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DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES: -Improve ability to gain and maintain speed.

As the handle is pushed the spring is compressed, shifting the riders weight and “pumping” the rider on the ramp.

Handles position

increases leverage al-

lowing for the strut to

be fully compressed

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FRONT CASTERS

Based off the engineering of sus-pension front casters already on the market, this new design specifically fits standard skateboard wheels (48-70mm). The main reason for doing this is to connect the sport to the roots from which it has been based. It al-lows the users to customize their chair with the fun and readily available wheel designs of skateboard com-panies. Also, this will give extreme wheelchair users a reason to shop at their local skate shops, further expos-ing this new sport and encouraging new social interactions.

The elastomer suspension system helps to dampen the vibrations of impacts and allows the rider to flow smoother over any rough terrain. The new design is shorter than other avail-able casters and relocates material to make for a more durable design and aesthetic.

DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES: -Increased Durability -Dampen Impacts -Extreme Aesthetics

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PUTTING ITTOGETHER

DEF

IANCE

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DEFIANCE

WHEELCHAIRS

FINALSOLUTION

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Each component comes together to create a final wheelchair design unlike any other on the market. It successful addresses ev-ery design opportunity in a variety of ways, some more convential than others. The overall aesthetic stands out from all other chairs on the market, and compliments the established extreme sports culture that exists today. Whether you use the chair to skate or just get around, it is sure to attract any active, or adventurous wheelchair user.

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UNIVERSALAPPLICATION

While the initial intent for the wheel-chairs components was to fulfill the needs an extreme sport, the benefits of their design can be seen in more universal applications.

-The shock absorbing sport cushion is perfect for anyone at high risk of spinal injury

-Ergonoic pushrim gives users greater control of their chair, while elimi-nating stress to the fingers, plams, wrists, and forearms.

-Tri-flex wheel dampens the constant bumps and vibrations of urban travel-ing, helping to eliminate chronic back pain.

-Advanced manufacturing techniques allow for lighter and stronger wheel-chair frames that can be enjoyed by everyone.

PERCEPTIONA NEW

With the introduction of the “Defiance” wheelchair, wheelchair skating can now grow further than ever ever. The chair’s design al-lows for athletes to go faster, take on bigger gaps, and fly higher than ever before. Anybody can try the sport as the store-ready design allows for anybody who wants one to get one, without any custom building required. As the sport gains publicity, our percep-tions as to what is possible, shift drastically. Never before did people imagine someone in a wheelchair dropping in next to a bmxer in the X-games. Never before people imagine someone in a wheelchair ignoring the wheel-chair ramps to gap the set of stairs outside their school. And as fans watch their favorite atheles back -flip their wheelchairs on tv, they can feel proud to sit in the same chair as their inspiring heroes. They now know, nothing is impossible.

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SPECIALTHANKS:

Aaron Fotheringham.com for the imagesChristiaan “Otter” Bailey and

the entire Apparelyzed.com Communityfor their endless help and feedback

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SPECIALTHANKS: