2025 Project: Attachable Suspension System for Manual Wheelchairs
8 weeks: May 26-July 18
The Biomechanical Design Laboratory at Gonzaga University is developing a low-cost suspension system that can be attached to existing manual wheelchairs. As manual wheelchairs are used on surfaces like cement sidewalks, brick walkways, or cobblestone, the vibrations experienced by the user are in an unsafe range. We are designing, optimizing, and testing a novel compliant mechanism suspension system that can integrate with existing wheelchairs to reduce vibrations while traveling over common walkway surfaces.
Since Spring 2023, Dr. Brandon Sargent has guided students in improving wheelchair comfort and safety over uneven or bumpy surfaces. Specifically, manual (non-powered) wheelchairs can be unsafe when rolled over rough surfaces such as brick walkways. There currently is not a cost-effective solution.
Students studied the typical vibration patterns and have been designing, building, and testing a solution that can become a commercialized project.
As of Fall 2024, a group of five students prepared the improved wheelchair design for human trials and are submitting a test plan to the University Patent Committee. The project received a McDonald Work Award for the 2024-25 academic year.
