EnableTech: Mobile Platform
Engineer for Travel Wheelchair Rising Platform
Skills: Solidworks, FEA, Product Design
Mobile Platform is an ongoing project under UC Berkeley's EnableTech club. We are working with a client who has a physical disability that requires them to use a wheelchair. We were asked to design a portable,
elevator-like platform to help our client easily get in and out of their travel wheelchair, as well as remove the device. The device was required to be lightweight, portable, and safe to use. The footplate was required
to be at maximum, 3 inches off the ground, and after ascent, at maximum, 6 inches from the wheelchair seat. I was in charge of designing the footplate and prototyping the footplate.
Given constraints:
1. Lifts ~70 pounds
2. 8 inches of travel
3. Easily disasemmbled and stowed away
Initial Designs
Initial designs included a rack and pinion, worm drive, and rotating footplate, but these were deemed unsafe or inefficient.
Final Design
We created a new footplate design that utilized shoulder screws and ran multiple simulations through SolidWorks with a max load of 100lbs. We chose to use aluminum 6061 for its cost-effectiveness,
strength-to-weight ratio, and ease of manufacturing. We were able to achieve a FOS of 1.5.
We designed and machined frames and clamps out of aluminum to attach to the wheelchair, using as few screws as possible to reduce the disassembly time.
We are currently in the process of attaching the motor and delivering to our client!