Accessible Cycle Design Competition

Team: The Unit

Team Members:
Ali Mannan Tirmizi (LUMS), Emaad Khan (LUMS), Soman ul
Haq (PIEAS)

Pakistan has always been a country where the disabled populace has faced a great social barrier
due to lack of accessible infrastructure. We, a group of three engineers intend to solve this problem
by fusing modernism, innovation and design by addressing the challenges of safety, comfort,
compactness, low exertion, durability and aesthetics. We hope that our design will lead to better
social inclusion of lower body impaired personnel, in society.

We carried out an online survey, researched and listened to what people had to say about their
difficulties as a wheelchair user. Our design incorporates their feedback.

What we found during our research was that safety was the biggest concern. Our design features
reflective tape on the perimeter of the entire wheelchair. Although a very simple design perimeter
the tape is essentially low cost but highly effective. This is to warn vehicles to stay clear, especially
at night. We installed two high power LED headlights on the front of the wheelchair and LED
indicators controlled by an arduino nano to assist the person at night and while navigating through
the city, on streets and roads. The arduino nano can change the color of the indicators by applying
differential voltage to RGB LED indicators. The different colors could signify the status of the user.
The arduino can communicate with the smart phone of the user and allow tracking via GPS so that
the family members can know their whereabouts. A horn is also installed to alert bystanders nearby
to get out of the way while the wheelchair is traversing. The wheels are cambered to provide
stability during turns. Disc brakes will allow quick breaking at times of need. Grooved tires are used
to provide grip over slopes and areas where slipping is a danger.

Comfort is taken special care of. The seat is padded with light weight, water resistant cushioning
that is designed to support the head and shoulder blades. The seat can be adjusted at a 125 degree
angle and the centre of gravity is such that the wheelchair doesnt topple over even when in the rest
position. The arm rests and leg rests can be adjusted according to desire. The lower seat has slits to
provide maximum suspension over rough terrain. This is in addition to the spring suspension
system which hinges the seat to the main frame.

Lightweight aluminum is used in the mainframe for durability. The wheelchair is collapsible due to
its symmetry. It can reduce to its original width to increase ease of carry. Thin but rigid tires and
the light weight of the frame itself ensures that the user has to provide low exertion. The wheel
diameter has been kept large to provide a maximum degree of stability. To enhance the aesthetics
the seat covers are made so that they are colorful and can be replaced with more colors. Flexible
LED strips run throughout the frame of the chair and can change to any color according to will of
the user. This will not only make the wheelchair even more vibrant and cool to look at but will also
enable the person to match the color of wheelchair with the users clothes.

These design features are a reflection of wheelchair users needs. We hope that we will be able to
realize a wheelchair that fulfills their needs.

Note: Orthogonal drawings in separate attachment.