By Marshall Swearingen MSU NEWS SERVICE
BOZEMAN –
When ROC Wheels had a new design idea for the wheelchairs it
distributes to people around the world, the local nonprofit turned to who had helped
in the past: engineering students at Montana State University.
Having
already developed a couple models of rugged,
affordable wheelchairs and delivered them to about 10,000 people in
30 countries—primarily children with cerebral palsy and similar mobility
restrictions—ROC Wheels wanted to make a new,
self-activated wheelchair that would empower the user to stretch and
easily change positions.
That was the
challenge the nonprofit gave to four MSU seniors last spring as they embarked
on the yearlong “capstone” course that tests the teamwork and
technical skills of all MSU engineering majors. The team’s project would build
upon parts of the wheelchair designed and constructed by another MSU
capstone team the previous year. Capstone projects are sponsored by private
companies and organizations as well as MSU faculty, federal labs and others.
“It’s
inspiring for us to challenge the students, and the results have helped us
progress much faster than we would otherwise,” said ROC Wheels co-founder
Wayne Hanson on Dec. 5, when MSU engineers showed off their capstone creations
at the biannual Design Fair on campus. “This group was able to
solve a problem we didn’t expect them to, which was really exciting.”
For the
engineers, the knowledge that their efforts could one day make a difference in
someone’s life helped propel them across the semester’s finish line, even as
the work pushed them out of their comfort zones.
“A lot
of this stuff we don’t learn in class,” said Renan Baldi, a mechanical
engineering major from Brazil. The team had to navigate
international wheelchair regulations, make decisions about
fabrication methods and stay within a budget of $1,000.
“It put
us in more of a manufacturing environment than we’re used to,” said
mechanical engineering major Trey Ackerly of Denver.
That’s what
the capstone projects are all about, said team adviser Loribeth Evertz,
assistant teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of
Engineering.
“They
go through the whole design and manufacturing cycle,” Evertz said.
“It’s fun to be able to work locally with a sponsor like this. Not only
does the sponsor get to see what our students can do but the students get so
see opportunities for how they could use their degree out in the world.”
According to
mechanical engineering technology major Tanner Sachse, ROC Wheels was
“extremely supportive,” even if the dance between the two-semester
class and private industry offered unique challenges. As the team went through
multiple design iterations for their tilt mechanism, ROC Wheels was working on
other parts of the new prototype, so the MSU team had to adapt.
“Bringing
it all together was a challenge,” said Kevin Kruse, a mechanical
engineering technology major from Denver. “But we’re pretty happy with how
it came out.”
At the
Design Fair the wheelchair was in action, tilting backward up to 45
degrees and locking into position with a deceivingly complex system of pins and
springs packaged in the wheelchair’s armrests. Tilting the armrests
forward unlocked the chair’s back and allowed the backrest to recline and then
automatically lock in multiple positions.
“It’s
so simple to use, the person can change position and move all by
themselves,” Hanson of ROC Wheels said. “In a
traditional wheelchair, a caregiver has to do that for you.”
Moreover, the system is entirely mechanical, making it cheaper than an
electric wheelchair and more adaptable to low-resource areas.
“There’s nothing else like it,” he said.
Hanson said
ROC Wheels plans to refine the design and then hopefully license it for initial
production and distribution in the U.S., which would generate funding for the
organization as well as pave the way for taking the
new wheelchair overseas.
“The
kids did a great job,” said Hanson, noting that this is the third time ROC
Wheels has sponsored an MSU engineering capstone project. “We’d like to
continue to work with these MSU students on an annual basis.”
According
to Robb Larson, associate professor of mechanical engineering, there is
always a need for new capstone sponsors, and anyone interested in sponsoring a
project can contact him.
