Design and construction of an automatic electric wheelchair: An economic approach for Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper focuses on the minimization of cost for the construction of an automatic electric wheelchair with well-structured design and control system for the disabled people. In a developing country like Bangladesh, most of the physically disabled people of middle class and lower middle-class families can't afford to buy electric wheel chair as the cost is pretty high. Moreover, the existing features of the wheel chair available in market are not sufficient enough to meet all the requirements for all types of physically disabled people. That's why a design of electric wheel chair is proposed in this paper which contains more features and a developed control system along with the minimization of manufacturing cost about four-five times of recent market price. Multi means of controlling operation can be executed here either by keypad, joystick, and accelerometer or by voice. In the design, modularity of various parts is taken into consideration for the ease of repair work in any instant which adds a new dimension in the uniqueness of the designed structure. Also, the drawbacks of the controlling system of the modern existing chairs are eliminated with the implementation of automatic horn system along with the automatic and manually controlled headlight which assists in the communication at night time. Effective implementation of this design can pave the way of movement for all types of physically disabled people to a great extent within their affordability.