Wheels4U
Children wheelchairs for the developing world
Self-Initiated Project
Recognition
Global Grad Show at Dubai Design Week, 2018
Maison/0 Green Trail, 2018 Winners
LVMH
Maison/0
Product Exploded View
In China, there are over 2.2 million amputees. 90.5% of them go without prosthetics due to their high cost and the fact that demand often greatly outstrips supply. This leaves them facing difficulties with mobility, employment and other daily activities. What’s more, many prosthetics don’t take into account the specific needs of some amputees.
Brief
“ How would design meet the growing demands of amputees in China to help them overcome these difficulties? ”
Research
How would design meet the growing demands of amputees in China to help them overcome these difficulties?
3 Main Issues:
• High cost
• Demand > supply
• Limited choices
COST
Enable Chinese disabled people who live in rural areas to have access to the wheelchair and be able to afford it.
Inspiration & Insight
In China, bilateral amputees use daily objects like stools, DIY wooden boxes, DIY skateboards…etc to create their own mobility equipments which is more convenient, suitable and economical for them to help them go out easily.
Recycle & Reuse local available materials
Because of Chinese large population, very high birth rate, children bikes are very cheap in china, almost every child has at least one bike, children grow up very quickly, so there are lots of discarded children bikes causing congestion and waste. It inspires me that I think it is a great local resource can be recycled or reused, especially it is free.
Concept
Reusing daily objects to make an affordable wheelchair to replace the expensive assistive products from Chinese market
Idea Generation
Prototyping
CAD models
Using Rhino 3D models to visualize and test design ideas
Design
Wheels4U
Wheels4U is a low-cost do-it-yourself wheelchair for disabled children in the developing world.
The project reuses daily objects like plastic washbasins and recycles discarded children's bicycles and locally available materials. Its parts come in a box that acts of an instruction manual for the do-it-yourself creation of Wheels4U. The black outlines on the box indicate to users which additional components they'll need to complete the product. By following the included instruction book, the parents of disabled children can easily assemble, adjust and repair their own wheelchairs by hand.
Service/ System
Exploded View
I want to keep making process simpler for the users. This wheelchair just need to use screws to put the components together, and I use cable ties to secure the washbasin on the frame.
Compare to the normal chair, the washbasin is much cheaper and also, it has better ergonomic shape for these toddlers, because it also has support on their sides.
Pictorial Instruction Books
I designed the pictorial instruction book to help them assemble or repair their own wheelchair by themselves at home. This book has no words because for some people in rural areas might not know how to read.
Packaging
Because of the environment, when charity delivery the supplies, we always need to carry them by small truck and take them to their homes by hands. I think it is very important that the packaging need to be flat-packed and light weight.
This flat-packed cardboard box has two layers, one for basic components, another for storing the wheels. The instruction book connect with the model and packaging, the outline mark on the box can help people easily find them.
Local Family Workshops
And I found there are lots of local small family-based workshop which can make the rest of the small components like these metal pieces, which can also help with the Local economy, to avoid my design having bad effect to the local business. And I am using some components that is cheap and easily found in local stores, if they lost some parts, they can repair the wheelchair very easily later.
Collaborate with local charity
