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Not a Wheelchair [video]

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Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#41

Post by sterlind »

a-wu wrote: post #16

I think the biggest impact of this is the price. There are other similar products out there (Bowhead and Outrider come to mind), but those are really expensive. In a world where mobility product prices are through the roof (my power wheelchair costs north of $50k), selling something like this for under $5k is quite incredible.

There's cheaper power chairs out there.. the Air Hawk is like $2k, though obviously not for everyone. These aren't going to be fitted or customized for your injury/ability, so they'll be worse but cheaper.

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#42

Post by shoes_for_thee »

Someone1234 wrote: post #31
neogodless wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The existing Rig is $4750 USD and is rear-wheel-drive only. Are you saying it would cost 30% more to make it 4WD?

Given that the electric monitor is in-line, and there's no gearing or shaft, I mean is that such a stretch? The easiest way to make it 4WD would be a second electric motor, which could easily be 30%.

The motor does appear to drive the rear with a chain drive

https://notawheelchair.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/202001...

Not sure what a good way to run power to the front of it would be esp given the steering system and two front axels

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#43

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

throw7 wrote: post #25
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #10

I highly recommend subscribing JerryRigEverything channel. The host's (zack) primary content is dismantling smartphones at same time reviewing it's features fairly. I had unsubscribed to every other smartphone review channel as I'm not going to change my smartphone every other day and at the same time I want to keep myself apprised of the developments in smartphone hardware; JRE serves me perfectly for that.

He got very political some years ago (trump/clinton stuff) and I unsubscribed.

He adds humour in his narration, which includes world events sometimes, but he's extremely nuanced.

The only political video I've seen of him is the recent video he did with other youtubers asking people to vote, that's all, there was no mention of any party and in-fact someone in the video explicitly said 'vote for anyone, but please vote'[1].

Unfortunately, asking people to vote is seen as a threat by one side of the political spectrum; however foolish that is in a democratic country.

[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDHuvwwTnYc

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#44

Post by a-wu »

Spare_account wrote: post #39
a-wu wrote: post #16

I think the biggest impact of this is the price. There are other similar products out there (Bowhead and Outrider come to mind), but those are really expensive. In a world where mobility product prices are through the roof (my power wheelchair costs north of $50k), selling something like this for under $5k is quite incredible.

>my power wheelchair costs north of $50k What kind is it? Here in the UK the typical price I'm finding is ~£1000, with high end models ~£3000 https://www.uk-wheelchairs.co.uk/electric-wheelchairs-power-... https://www.careco.co.uk/cat-wc09/powerchairs.htm

I use a Permobil F3 with a lot of additions. The price I mentioned is the insurance price in the US and in many cases self-pay will bring it down but it's often still prohibitively expensive. I had to self-pay for an add-on on my current chair and that was $2400 itself. Oftentimes in the US, manufacturers will only sell products through a licensed DME so you have to pay a markup there too.

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#45

Post by codekansas »

Reminds me of this passage from Cory Doctorow's book Walkaway:

"You realize that they're exactly right," Sita said. She smiled, stopped. "You know, when the first walkaway prostheses project started, most of the people contributing had lost an arm or a leg in Belarus or Oman, and were tired of paying loan sharks for something that hurt and barely worked and could be remotely repossessed by an over-the-air kill-switch if they missed a payment. But once they got here and started living, realized how much had been left on the table by conservative companies that didn't want to get into a patent fight and didn't see any reason to add advanced functionality to something that you didn't have any choice about, they got radicalized.

"They stopped saying 'I just want to make an arm that'll get through the day,' and started saying 'I want an arm that does everything my old arm did.' From there, it was a short step to 'I want an arm that's better than my old arm.' And from there, it was an even shorter step to 'I want an arm that's so outrageously awesome that you'll cut off your own to get one.'

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#47

Post by Someone »

Someone1234 wrote: post #31
neogodless wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The existing Rig is $4750 USD and is rear-wheel-drive only. Are you saying it would cost 30% more to make it 4WD?

Given that the electric monitor is in-line, and there's no gearing or shaft, I mean is that such a stretch? The easiest way to make it 4WD would be a second electric motor, which could easily be 30%.

Driving the front wheels is more complicated because the front axis is used for steering (it might be easier to go for two motors there, and, if you go there, 4 identical motors might be the better choice for maintenance/repairability).

I think you also would need to guarantee that both engines are aiming for (about) the same speed, even in corners or when tire pressure changes. That might require something technically similar to ABS.

Also, does this have a differential on the back axis? I couldn’t spot it, but that may be because I don’t know what they can look like on these relatively low-powered devices.

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#48

Post by a-wu »

sterlind wrote: post #41
a-wu wrote: post #16

I think the biggest impact of this is the price. There are other similar products out there (Bowhead and Outrider come to mind), but those are really expensive. In a world where mobility product prices are through the roof (my power wheelchair costs north of $50k), selling something like this for under $5k is quite incredible.

There's cheaper power chairs out there.. the Air Hawk is like $2k, though obviously not for everyone. These aren't going to be fitted or customized for your injury/ability, so they'll be worse but cheaper.

Yeah but if I'm going to sit on something for 14 hours of the day for every day of my life it better be comfortable and not give me pressure sores. Also my level of injury necessitates lots of additions.

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#49

Post by geocrasher »

woriuweflksdncn wrote: post #12

I wonder how those rear wheels handle corners. I'm a little surprised they didn't use two independent drive motors, versus a single motor and solid axle, which could be extended to implement an electronic differential.

Indeed, this thing will likely eat tires if used on-road a lot. Without a differential, it'll also be harder to steer and will want to "push" through the turns. You can see this at 2:31:

https://youtu.be/vuMg0QwKAGI?t=151

The turning radius isn't that great, and the lack of a differential helps explain why. Definitely an interesting design choice.

Re: Not a Wheelchair [video]

#50

Post by woriuweflksdncn »

kube-system wrote: post #17
woriuweflksdncn wrote: post #12

I wonder how those rear wheels handle corners. I'm a little surprised they didn't use two independent drive motors, versus a single motor and solid axle, which could be extended to implement an electronic differential.

Probably just fine. It seems they intend this mostly for use on soft surfaces, where the lack of a differential isn't really an issue, even on large vehicles, because the surface itself is compliant enough to make up for the lack of differential action. But even on a hard surface it might work just fine, because the turning radius looks pretty shallow. The advantage is that a solid axle is simple, cheap, reliable, an…

I mostly agree about the advantages, but two motors would be arguably simpler from a mechanical standpoint.
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