Building a better wheelchair

Here’s a neat design for an improved wheelchair, by designer and wheelchair user Salim Nasser. Noting that repetitive stress injury from can be a major problem for users of manually propelled wheelchairs, he designed the Rowheel Wheelchair Propulsion System. His system uses an embedded planetary gear system that can be retrofitted onto existing wheelchairs, and allows a user to wheel themselves forward using a back-and-forth motion similar to rowing. This prototype landed him the grand prize in the Create the Future design competition. [via Core77]

More:

• Steampunk Professor Xavier Wheelchair Project
• Universal doorknob opening robot for the disabled
• Dalek wheelchair costume
• Self-movable wheelchair footrest mod