Development of a Design concept of a Motor-driven wheelchair swing for recreational park environment

1. The problem

A significant number of children globally are confined to the use of wheelchairs. Similar to their peers, such children express a desire to utilise the amenities provided by public recreational parks. Regrettably, a significant number of existing facilities lack accessibility for individuals who use wheelchairs. Recently, a number of countries have produced a range of swings designed specifically for youngsters who use wheelchairs. The development of specialised wheelchairs became a new design challenge. Two examples of commercially available wheelchair swings are presented below.

Unfortunately, the majority of the presently-existing wheelchair swings have significant design drawbacks. Such wheelchair swings are typically propelled by the carer, which requires a significant amount of physical work. In most cases, the carer also must load the wheelchair onto the swing's platform by pushing it up on an inclined ramp, which demands substantial physical effort. When the child's wheelchair is heavy, the tasks of loading the wheelchair and propelling the wheelchair swing become much more difficult, if not impossible, for some weak carers.

2. Your task:

In this mini-project, you are required to develop a concept for an electric-powered wheelchair swing that does not require from the carer any physical work for the propulsion of the wheelchair swing and possesses an efficient solution for simple and effortless loading and unloading of the wheelchair onto the swing. In addition, it is anticipated that your motorised swing will implement a technical solution for the easy attachment of the wheelchair to the swing, will have an appealing appearance, will ensure the user's safety, and will include a substantial number of innovative features that will enhance the user's experience.

Requirements to the wheelchair swing that you will design:

• Your design concept needs to take into consideration a swing that has a motion similar to that of a pendulum and oscillates within predefined swing angles at a predefined constant angular speed. The swing must have two A-frames shaped pillars connected at the top by a horizontal shaft (see the examples in section 1). Both ends of the shaft are supported by a pair of bearings. A swing platform is suspended from the shaft by four rods. During swinging, the wheelchair with the person in it is put on the platform, and the caregiver stands on the ground near the swing at a position that allows the caregiver to observe and manage the swing.

• You need to consider a swing that is powered by an electric motor (s)

• Consider a swing that completes ten cycles per minute. Swing oscillations have an amplitude of 45 degrees with respect to the vertical.

• The swing platform can bear a maximum load of 375 kg.

• The wheelchair should need to be loaded and unloaded with a minimal amount of physical effort so that a caregiver with limited physical capabilities can do it.

• Your wheelchair swing should be suitable for a variety of wheelchair sizes.

• Add some new design features to your wheelchair swing that will make it look better, work better, and be safer overall.

• You must propose a control panel for setting the swing action, such as start and stop buttons.

• Provide a solution for preventing other children from entering the swing's operational zone and being hit by the running swing or playing with it (e.g., a fence around the swing, access control)

• You must produce a Product design specification (PDS) for the desired swing.

• You must create picture-based instructions that show caregivers how to use your motorised wheelchair swing.

• It is necessary for your design to be in accordance with all of the applicable laws, standards, and safety requirements.

GUIDELINES FOR COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT

The Project will be developed in two stages:

Stage 1: Gather background information on wheelchair swings and produce a PDS for the swing that you will design.

Stage 2: Develop own design solution for an advanced motor-driven wheelchair swing that meets the provided design requirements. Write a report that presents your design concept and its evolution.

3. Guidelines for the completion of Stage 1: Collecting background information about wheelchair swings and proposing a PDS

During this phase of the project, you must collect background information on existing design solutions and applicable legislation. You will need the acquired knowledge to develop the concept for your motorised wheelchair swing.

3.1. Make a literature search on wheelchair swings and inclusive playgrounds. Analyse their designs critically

• Examine the wheelchair swings examples, presented in Section 1 (Wheelchair swing example 1 and Wheelchair swing example 2). Outline briefly the structure of each of these wheelchair swings and explain the way they operate. Comment on the specific features of their design. Discuss the differences in their construction and operation. For each example swing, comment on the design solutions that you like and indicate the design elements that, in your opinion, require improvement. If you have any suggestions for improving or avoiding these weaknesses, explain them briefly.

• Conduct your own literature search for wheelchair swing solutions. Search for commercially available products and wheelchair swing design solutions published in journal articles, online publications, patents, research project reports, etc. Systematise the collected information. Comment on the structure, operation, and advantages and disadvantages of each of the wheelchair swings you've found. If you have any thoughts on how to eliminate or mitigate their weaknesses, explain your ideas briefly.

When you present your search findings in your project report, include a brief description of each design solution you discovered, note the source where you saw it, and make brief comments on its strengths and weaknesses. Include a photo or schematic of the discussed design solution, if one is available.

3. 2. Conduct a literature search on policies and legislation on wheelchair swings and inclusive playgrounds. - When you begin designing your wheelchair swing, you must be well-versed in essential regulations and legislation. This is due to the fact that compliance with relevant regulations and standards is a legal requirement for all products placed on the market. (see: “Guidance: Placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/placing- manufactured-goods-on-the-market-in-great-britain) To obtain information on the standards and rules that are applicable to your design project and must be followed:

• Search the available literature for relevant design standards, health and safety laws, etc.

• Take a look at the wheelchair swings you studied in section 3.1 and find out which regulations and standards were followed in the creation of those swings.

3.3. Decide on the size of the platform of the wheelchair swing that you will design. - Your swing's platform must be compatible with the majority of children's wheelchairs in the United Kingdom. To determine the correct size of the swing platform, it is necessary to collect data on the dimensions of widely used wheelchairs. To acquire information about wheelchair size, you must:

• Refer to the information that you have collected from your literature search on wheelchair swings (Section 3.1) to get some information about the sizes of their platforms.

• Conduct a literature search on the dimensions of commonly used children's wheelchairs in the United Kingdom by searching wheelchair manufacturers' product catalogues and websites. Typically, wheelchair manufacturers provide a comprehensive description of the dimensions of the wheelchairs that they produce.

• Examine some building regulations and standards that specify the door width for wheelchair-accessible buildings.

• Study the sizes of wheelchair ramps and sloped pathways. Typically, their dimensions are chosen to be compatible with a wide range of wheelchairs.

Once you have collected all of the information, you can evaluate your findings and decide on the dimensions of your swing's platform.

3.4. Conduct a literature search on the design and specifications of existing wheelchair ramps (design solutions, inclination angle, and length of the ramps).

To determine whether it will be technically acceptable for you to use an inclined ramp to transfer your wheelchair from ground level onto the swing platform in your wheelchair swing, it will be useful for you to gain information on wheelchair ramps. To learn more about inclined ramps:

•  conduct a literature search on the dimensions, surface covering, and inclination angles of wheelchair ramps in the United Kingdom.

• look for regulations that govern the dimensions, inclination, and surface covering of wheelchair routes in buildings that are designed to be accessible by wheelchair.

• search for information about materials that can be used to cover wheelchair ramps and wheelchair routes to prevent people and wheelchairs from slipping in wet conditions.

3.5. Prepare a Product design specification (PDS) for your wheelchair swing.

Your PDS must include the essential design requirements for the wheelchair swing you will develop. Your PDS must incorporate both the design requirements specified in Section 2 and the results of your literature search and analysis, as specified in Section 3. In your PDS you must:

• suggest dimensions for your swing

• specify the environmental characteristics in which your swing will work (temperature range in which the wheelchair swing will be used, humidity levels, parameters of the motor and electric power supply for the swing motor (voltage, motor type, etc.)).

• describe the main features of the swing you want to make (for example, you can define the maximum time of continuous operation of the swing, materials that will be used in its build, etc)

• list the laws and regulations that your swing's design will have to follow. Be specific when discussing standards. Avoid phrases such as "the swing should comply with the applicable laws" or "the swing should be safe." Instead, describe the specific laws and regulations that must be observed and briefly explain why your swing must comply with each one.

There are numerous scholarly articles sources that suggest good guidelines for PDS writing.

4. Guidelines for the completion of Stage 2: Development of a design concept for a Motor-driven wheelchair swing

In this part of the project, you need to develop a wheelchair swing design concept for a Motor-driven wheelchair swing by referring to the background information that you have collected in Section 3 and the PDS that you have proposed in 3.5

4.1. Design approach that you need to follow

You should not suggest a wheelchair swing concept that simply duplicates the design of the current examples in sections 1 and 3.1. Instead, create a wheelchair swing concept that incorporates fresh and innovative features and design ideas that improve its structure and functionality.

How should you develop your design concept?

• Your design concept must address the PDS requirements that you suggested in 3.5.

• Refer to your list of design features that you did not like in the design solutions that you studied in 3.1 and try to generate fresh solutions that avoid the potential weaknesses of existing designs.

• Try to suggest innovative new features that will make your new product more appealing and competitive on the market.

• Propose an innovative combination of shapes, materials, and colours that will give your new swing an original appearance.

Concentrate on technical solutions that:

• will make your swing less expensive, simpler, or more reliable without sacrificing swing performance or user experience

• simplify swing maintenance and repair

• improve user experience (for example, you may suggest design solutions for improving user comfort in hot weather and rain, etc.)

• minimise the physical effort required by the caregiver to move the wheelchair onto the swing platform.

• increase swing safety and reliability. - In your design concept, you may include a button for emergency swing stopping, solutions for immobilising swing movement when the user's safety belt is unfastened, and so forth.

Avoid solutions that are too costly, unrealistic, or unclear.

4.2. Design tasks that you must address in your design concept

4.2.1. Suggest a mechanical structure for your swing. If your final design solution was preceded by some prior concepts, include in your report short summaries of all previous ideas, as well as sketches and drawings that represent these past ideas, to demonstrate how you have reached your final design. Create a high-quality 3D drawing of your final motorised wheelchair swing and describe its components and operation.

4.2.2. Propose a solution for fixing the wheelchair (and the user inside it) to the swing platform. Create appropriate drawings to illustrate your idea. Describe your wheelchair fastening concept. Your wheelchair fixation mechanism should work with wheelchairs of various sizes and make the fastening process much easier and faster. Refer to your literature search findings from 3.3 for wheelchair sizes.

4.2.3. Your swing should enable a caretaker with restricted physical abilities (e.g., weak individuals, old people) to load and unload the wheelchair onto the swing platform easily. Suggest a mechanism for transferring the wheelchair from ground level to the swing platform that requires less effort from the carer. Such a mechanism could comprise an additional electric motor and gear, an electric winch, a hand winch, a scissors mechanism, etc. Explain the structure and operation of your wheelchair transfer system, and illustrate your idea with a suitable drawing.

4.2.4. Your swing must have a mechanism that converts the motor's rotating motion into oscillatory motion (or reciprocating linear motion). Make a good-quality picture of the suggested mechanism and explain how it operates. It would be advantageous if you could make an animation that illustrates the action of the mechanism.

4.2.5. You must propose how the output of the motion conversion mechanism (see 4.2.4) will be coupled to the swing in order to cause it to oscillate.

4.2.6. Choose an appropriate electric motor (AC, DC, etc.) for propelling your swing. Suggest a gear for the same motor if necessary. If you use a gear, you need to describe its ratio, type, and structure. Indicate where and how the motor will be installed (on the swing's body, on a separate platform, etc.). Comment on the voltage of the swing’s power supply. Explain how you intend to obtain the necessary electrical energy for your swing. What energy source will you use? If your wheelchair swing will be powered by the power grid (the mains), you must specify how the electrical energy will be transferred from the primary energy source to the swing (e.g., via underground cable and transformer, via transformer and underground cable, via a battery, etc.).

4.2.7. Your swing may contain mechanical parts (such as gears) as well as electrical and electronic parts (switches, control PCBs, etc.). You must recommend suitable enclosures (special protective boxes) for the mechanical and electrical components of the swing in order to shield them from intrusion, dust, unintentional contact, water, and so on. Propose an appropriate shape, colour scheme, and material for these enclosures. Suggest the appropriate Ingress Protection (IP) rates for these enclosures. Describe how these enclosures will be affixed to the swing.

4.2.8. You must provide a suitable command interface through which the carer will set up dedicated commands such as start, stop, and emergency stop. Your design concept may also include a display that indicates the swing's utilisation time, messages and error codes, air temperature, etc. Create an appropriate drawing to illustrate your concept for controlling your wheelchair swing, the shape of the control box and the layout of the buttons and light indicators on it. Make suggestions for the colours and shapes of the elements of the control panel. Describe whether your control box will be affixed to the body of the swing or will be formed as a separate portable control box (similarly to the TV remotes). Describe how the carer will use your interface device to operate the swing. Suggest a strategy for how your swing should respond to routine stop commands and emergency stop commands.

4.2.9. Your wheelchair swing design must incorporate a solution for preventing unauthorised visitors from using the swing (preventing children to play with the swing). Propose a reasonable method for limiting the access to the swing to authorised users only (for example, access via digital code lock door and pass code, fingerprint door lock, access card, etc.).

4.2.10. Prepare picture-based operational instructions for guiding caretakers on how to use the swing. The instructions should include a combination of brief text and basic pictures or sketches. Provide recommendations as to how your image-based operating instructions will be made visible to users (e.g., as a poster in the swing area, a mobile phone application, a printed leaflet, etc.)

4.2.11. Propose a suggestion for how your swing will be integrated into the recreational park. Use a suitable illustration (preferably a 3D drawing).

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