Sharma Vinod, Simpson Richard C, LoPresti Edmund F, Mostowy Casimir, Olson Joseph, Puhlman Jeremy, Hayashi Steve, Cooper Rory A, Konarski Ed, Kerley Barry
Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2008 Jan 2;5:1. doi: 10.1186/1743-0003-5-1.
In long-term care environments, residents who have severe mobility deficits are typically transported by having another person push the individual in a manual wheelchair. This practice is inefficient and encourages staff to hurry to complete the process, thereby setting the stage for unsafe practices. Furthermore, the time involved in assembling multiple individuals with disabilities often deters their participation in group activities.
The Wheelchair Convoy System (WCS) is being developed to allow a single caregiver to move multiple individuals without removing them from their wheelchairs. The WCS will consist of a processor, and a flexible cord linking each wheelchair to the wheelchair in front of it. A Participatory Design approach - in which several iterations of design, fabrication and evaluation are used to elicit feedback from users - was used.
An iterative cycle of development and evaluation was followed through five prototypes of the device. The third and fourth prototypes were evaluated in unmanned field trials at J. Iverson Riddle Development Center. The prototypes were used to form a convoy of three wheelchairs that successfully completed a series of navigation tasks.
A Participatory Design approach to the project allowed the design of the WCS to quickly evolve towards a viable solution. The design that emerged by the end of the fifth development cycle bore little resemblance to the initial design, but successfully met the project's design criteria. Additional development and testing is planned to further refine the system.
在长期护理环境中，严重行动不便的居民通常由他人推着手动轮椅运送。这种做法效率低下，还会促使工作人员匆忙完成运送过程，从而为不安全行为埋下隐患。此外，召集多名残疾人所花费的时间往往会妨碍他们参与集体活动。
正在研发轮椅车队系统（WCS），以使一名护理人员能够在不将多名残疾人从轮椅上抱下的情况下运送他们。WCS将包括一个处理器，以及一条将每把轮椅与前面的轮椅相连的柔性绳索。采用了参与式设计方法，即通过设计、制造和评估的多次迭代来获取用户反馈。
该设备的五个原型经过了开发与评估的迭代循环。第三和第四个原型在J.艾弗森·里德尔发展中心进行了无人实地试验。这些原型被用于组成一个由三把轮椅组成的车队，该车队成功完成了一系列导航任务。
该项目采用的参与式设计方法使WCS的设计能够迅速朝着可行的解决方案发展。在第五个开发周期结束时出现的设计与最初的设计几乎没有相似之处，但成功满足了项目的设计标准。计划进行进一步的开发和测试，以进一步完善该系统。
