BWSC STORIES

Under the BWSC theme ‘Dream Bigger. Go Farther,’ Bridgestone supports challengers in achieving their dreams.
Let us introduce a student-run project that aims to improve the future of mobility.

Mobility revolution brought by students! A next-generation wheelchair that lets you go anywhere

Although there has been an increase in the number of easily accessible facilities/environments with more lifts and wheelchair ramps, wheelchair users still struggle around the stairs. Not all stairs have inclined wheelchair lifts attached to them, and regular wheelchairs do not let you climb up and down the stairs.
In order to provide wheelchair users with boundless freedom, a team of Swiss University students has been working on the next generation wheelchair.

A wheelchair with a stair-climbing function

The students from Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and Zurich University of the Arts have been working together on ‘Scewo’, the electric wheelchair that lets you go up and down the stairs. Crawler mechanisms commonly used for off-road vehicles and construction allow Scewo to stay stable while moving up and down the stairs. Scewo also moves smoothly on rough surfaces as well as snow covered roads.

Make the impossible possible with the power of mobility

Self-balancing technology and the two big wheels allow more versatile movements like spinning and going over the curb. Scewo is designed for easy operation; just touch the screen and move the lever by the armrests. If you hit the stairs just press the stair-climbing function button. Stairs, steps and slippery roads are no longer your obstacles; Scewo will take you to more places than you could have ever been with regular wheelchairs.

The students’ dream for the future

Unlike the regular wheelchairs with unpolished design, Scewo is stylish and aesthetically pleasing. There is a member of Scewo team who is a wheelchair user; the team made sure that they reflected the needs of the wheelchair users in Scewo.
The team aims to make Scewo commercially available by the end of 2019. Wheelchair users may move around more freely and safely with Scewo in the not so distant future

Source:
https://scewo.ch/

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