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One-Wheel is an omnidirectional mechanical wheelchair add-on that is helping wheelchair
users regain their independence.
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Imagine your muscles being locked in a state of constant atrophy and fatigue. It would make
performing everyday tasks exponentially more difficult. It would be hard to make breakfast,
do exercise, or even just move around properly. Unfortunately, this is the reality that
Nadina and other patients with multiple sclerosis must live with each and every day.
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Introducing Nadina Gregory. Nadina was diagnosed with MS 22 years ago and started using
her wheelchair 17 years later when her walking became laboured. Since then, she has been
looking for ways to continue doing what she loves - physical activity, while still
accommodating her medical needs.
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Nadina’s condition prevents her from walking, so she relies solely on a manual wheelchair
for mobility. The feeling of independence and autonomy are key values for her, so she
refuses to use an electric wheelchair as she feels as though it will diminish these traits.
However, her key problem with her manual wheelchair is that her right arm exhibits
significantly more symptoms of MS than her left, resulting in a massive strength difference
between her arms. Consequently, Nadina constantly veers towards the right as she tries
to move her wheelchair forward, which is obviously not ideal.
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In sum, Nadina would need a completely manual wheelchair that enables her to precisely control
her direction of movement without impeding her sense of autonomy.
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Introducing one-wheel - A purely mechanical solution customized to clients like Nadina
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We designed One-Wheel to look like a regular wheelchair, but instead of having two separate
wheels, we connected them on a single axle to allow complete control with
just her left arm. For turning, she can push on the hand lever which subsequently pulls on a
cable by way of a pulley system, eventually pulling down a pin to momentarily disconnect the axles.
This would allow the two wheels to move independently from each other again. The handle can be
locked in place while turning, and she gain easily lock it back in the position that
connects the pin again and allows her to go straight forward.
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Our team eventually settled on a pring-loaded pin as our mechanism to connect and disconnect
the wheel axles, as it requires minimal strength to function and it is very effective compared to
its alternatives.
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Within 5 weeks, we created One-Wheel that addressed all three of Nadina’s biggest concerns.
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Figuring out how to connect the axles was our biggest hurdle in the creation of One-Wheel.
We hadn’t previously worked with pulleys so we had to take a lot of time to understand the
flow of the system, from there we had to create a housing model (shown here in blue) to align
the spring and pin properly with the pulley and hole on the axle.
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One-Wheel Slideshow
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One-Wheel Slideshow
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One-Wheel Slideshow
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One-Wheel Slideshow