Improving the Efficiency and Ergonomics of an Off-Road Wheelchair Attachment for Kyaro Assistive Tech

In East Africa, individuals with mobility disabilities face significant barriers to participating in educational, social, and public life activities due to the challenging terrains that make basic push-rim wheelchairs ineffective. To address this issue, our team partnered with Kyaro Assistive Tech with the goal of redesigning a wheelchair attachment that allows individuals with lower-body disabilities to traverse East Africa’s often rough terrains more easily and efficiently. Our approach included a thorough examination of existing off-road wheelchair solutions, comprehensive user research, and careful consideration of ethical implications. Following a visit to Tanzania and several weeks of extensive prototyping and analysis, we designed an innovative drivetrain concept featuring a pull-based actuation mechanism that attaches to a standard push-rim wheelchair, and is novel in comparison to traditional wheelchair designs. We selected this concept because of its mechanical advantage and user ergonomics. We also used engineering analysis to assess our design’s efficacy, examining factors such as the human optimum work range and the durability of components.

In our final prototype, we encountered operational challenges and were limited to testing in purely off-ground scenarios. Despite this setback, our efforts resulted in a design that is easily repairable and manufacturable in Tanzania, as it utilizes commonly available bicycle and household parts. We also tested our design against high-priority engineering requirements, which revealed that our design significantly reduced the need for body twisting and improved overall user comfort. In future work, we will focus on further ergonomic enhancements and adjusting the gear ratio to reduce the force required by the user to travel on the ground and up an incline.

Our project not only addresses immediate mobility challenges but also contributes to the broader conversation on accessible design and the importance of incorporating user-centric principles and local manufacturing capabilities in the development of assistive technologies.