Engineering students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Zurich University of the Arts, have developed an electric wheelchair capable of climbing and descending stairs using rubber ‘tank’ tracks. The team of around 100 mechanical and electrical engineering students has released the first video of Scalevo, which still is a prototype, in action.
“Our goal was to climb and descend stairs, to transport a human being and to be able to handle daily tasks. With daily tasks it is meant to drive forward and backward on a flat ground, to drive curves, to turn around on spot, to go through a door, to fit under a table and to be easy to get on and off,” the team mentions on their website.
The team is now readying the wheelchair for the Cybathlon Challenge for Robot-Assisted Parathletes, in October 2016.
Beni Winter, one of the engineers behind the Scalevo wheelchair, says, “The wheelchair is normally balanced on two wheels to drive on flat ground or small slopes. To go up stairs it uses a set of tracks. These tracks can be tilted so they always have the correct angle to keep the person in the chair level”. The wheelchair comes fitted with lights at the front and a rear light at the back to provide extra safety at night.
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