Students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and the Zurich University of the Arts have made an amazing breakthrough. Although their invention started off as a final-year student project, it quickly evolved to be a (quite possibly) life-changing idea.
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Their product is based off of an electric wheelchair, but they’ve made it so much more than that. Using an advanced knowledge of engineering and industrial designers, the 10 students responsible aimed to create a walking aid unlike any other.
According to iflSCIENCE, “Scalevo is like a hybrid of a wheelchair and a Segway. It’s a two-wheeled wheelchair that has the ability to climb stairs. Using gyroscopic technology, similar to a Segway in ‘balance mode,’ the design makes it easy to rotate on the spot and quickly change direction. On flat ground, the wheelchair can move at about 10 kilometers per hour (6.2 mph).”
While even the basic idea of Scalevo is a fantastically innovative, the product has one aspect that truly puts it ahead of the curve… and that’s its ability to safely and successfully climb stairs. Yes, you read that correctly – Scaleve can scale a staircase by itself. While there are a few other wheelchairs that have been able to do scale stairs, Scalevo’s unique two-wheel design seems to do it in a faster, safer, and more efficient way than before… that’s fully automated.
“The great thing is that everything on this wheelchair is automated. If I want to climb the stairs I can just drive up to them, turn around, press one button and all I have to do is control the velocity I want to drive at. The alignment on the stairs, the leveling of the wheelchair driver, is automated and he can control it, he can view the back with a back facing camera, and have a full, safe, driving experience,” said mechanical engineering student, Miro Voellmy.
Although Scalevo is not yet being made on a commercial level, if it does this amazing invention could truly change people’s lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lb_8nmy90c
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