Design, development and testing of a low-cost electric powered wheelchair for India

Purpose. To design and develop an appropriate, low-cost electric powered wheelchair (EPW) for the Indian subcontinent. Method. We performed the following multi-phase design process: (1) Conceptual design; (2) System design, Prototype I fabrication, focus group testing with Indian stakeholders (n = 29); (3) System re-design, Prototype II fabrication and user trials with US (n = 5) and Indian (n = 25) subjects. Results. (1) Preliminary investigations revealed that a conventional EPW design was infeasible due to the high component cost. Instead, we constrained our design to incorporate a single drive motor and manual steering, with the option of upgrading to power steering where economically feasible. (2) The first prototype was fabricated out of easily available, low-cost materials. Focus group testing demonstrated feasibility of the design and revealed differences between stakeholder groups. (3) Prototype II incorporated feedback from the first focus group and a needs assessment. US subjects provided valuable design advice prior to the India trials. Indian subjects travelled further in the SIMPL-EPW than their own manual wheelchair (MWC). Depending on spinal injury level, Indian subjects found the entire (tetraplegia) or outdoor portion (paraplegia) of the obstacle course significantly less challenging in the SIMPL-EPW compared with their own MWC. Conclusions. We demonstrated a useful and successful multi-phase design approach for developing assistive technology for developing regions.