Design of Scooter for Physically Handicapped with Foldable Hood

Abstract

In present scenario, transportation is one of the major requirements of the people for transportation of goods or self from one place to a different place. For a physically disabled or a debilitated person, transportation is a major hindrance and so the mobility of physically disabled people is among the great concern of the human civilization. It is really very hard to realize the problems and sorrows of a physically disabled or debilitated person who is dependent on others or is confined on a wheel chair with a limited mobility. In India, the contemporarily modified scooters used by the physically disabled people for transportation are not ergonomic and do not provide protection from adverse weather conditions which can be more dangerous for physically disabled people compared to the normal person while driving. It is very risky and uncomfortable to drive such modified scooters during the rain or in other adverse weather conditions. It is also difficult for physically disabled person to ride the three wheel scooter for a longer duration. This project focuses at providing a feasible designsolution in form of a user friendly three wheel scooter, which allows physically challenged or debilitated person with partial disability to commute themselves and perform their activities without anyone’s assistance. Problems were identified by the survey regarding the dimensions. Major issues like seat height, ground clearance etc, ereutilized to develop the concepts and its selection. Then the detailed design of the selected concept was carried out using CATIA. The designed scooter will be ergonomically suiting disabled person in comparison to the conventionally modified scooters used by them. The improved design of the scooter was also incorporated with a foldable hood which will provide protection to the rider from adverse weather conditions and dust. This hood can be used to cover the scooter or uncover the user and the scooter as well. The seats of the conventional scooters are not suitable for the physically handicapped riders ergonomically. This scooter will also consist of the optimized seating for physically disabled person which provides greater comfort, making it more easy and comfortable to ride. Subjective analysis has been carried out for this purpose. After completing the CATIA model, a prototype model was build with rapid prototyping.