Difference between revisions of "WhimWiki A Wheelchair That Makes Sense:Current events"
From WhimWiki A Wheelchair That Makes Sense
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Building a wheelchair with off-the-shelf parts is exciting and challenging. Our biggest obstacle is connecting the wheel to the motor in a way that it has a braking system. As a non-mechanical person, I don't totally get the hows and whys of it, but I do get the part about how bicycle wheels don't drive backwards. So, our engineers are working on how to solve this problem as cheaply and easily as possible. | Building a wheelchair with off-the-shelf parts is exciting and challenging. Our biggest obstacle is connecting the wheel to the motor in a way that it has a braking system. As a non-mechanical person, I don't totally get the hows and whys of it, but I do get the part about how bicycle wheels don't drive backwards. So, our engineers are working on how to solve this problem as cheaply and easily as possible. | ||
| − | For the motors, lots of used treadmill motors are for sell on ebay. We're going to get one and play around with it. | + | For the motors, lots of used treadmill motors are for sell on ebay. We're going to get one and play around with it. There may be too many problems to make it work, but we love the DIY aspect of it and the low cost ($40 compared to $400+ for a wheelchair motor). Problems: We'll need to gear down the motor, maybe 50 to 1; the motor will need weatherproof housing with ventilation; the battery voltage requirements and charger present some interesting problems; how long can we count on this being a supply source? |
| + | --As far as the gearbox, we could go with a drive belt instead. A worm drive might be workable too. | ||
| + | --As far as availability, they've been selling on ebay for 12 years already, so maybe it will go at least another 12. | ||
| − | + | Just in case these issues become too much, though, we are still looking for other options for off-the-shelf motors that could be adapted for use on wheelchairs. Any ideas???? | |
Stay tuned for the next chapter and feel free to add ideas. | Stay tuned for the next chapter and feel free to add ideas. | ||
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| + | 2/2/14 | ||
