RAMALLAH, September 22, 2014 – (WAFA)- Three Palestinian mechatronics
students from Birzeit University (BZU) invented a stair-climbing handicap
wheelchair as part of their graduation project, BZU university announced on Monday.
The university added that the project of the stair-climbing
handicap wheelchair was submitted to the Arab Innovation Network Competition.
It was accepted in the first phase after being examined by academics and
professionals.
The AIN Innovation Competition aims to provide a platform for
talented and bright minds to showcase their ideas in front of an international
audience, get feedback from experts in the field, whilst providing the exposure
necessary to promote any great innovation.
Under the supervision of Hussein Amro, of BZU University, and
with help from Lab Assistant ‘Ala’ Qarqash, three mechatronics engineering
students, namely Shoa‘a Mar‘I, Khalid Sbaih, and Hamza Hattab, designed a smart
wheelchair, allowing the handicap to move in a wider area involving barriers
and stairs.
Commenting on the mechanism of operation, Shoa‘a said: “It took
us about nine months to complete the project, including the theory and
practice. The wheelchair design involves a system controlled by a central
processing unit (CPU) that sends signals to a rubber-coated conveyor, causing
the wheelchair to climb the stairs.”
Acting upon their first-hand experience of viewing and dealing
with handicap students at the university and recognizing that many local
universities are not well-equipped to respond to the handicap’s needs, the
three students came up with this idea as a humanitarian initiative that
contributes to solving some of the handicap problems, noting that Palestine,
due to the Israeli occupation, suffers from a high percentage of people with
disabilities, reaching almost 113 thousand individuals.
An online video shows that the wheelchair is designed to
automatically help the handicap climb and go down a stair case without human
intervention, while making sure that their integrity is maintained. The
wheelchair is provided with an ultrasonic sensor which detects any stairs and
sends a signal to the controller, which in turn sends other signals to the
wheel-rising motor.
The wheelchair is also provided with a gyro sensor and a power
screw which save the handicap from slipping down.
The AIN Innovation competition is divided into three themes,
which AIN sees as high-priority areas for the Arab region. They are:
Environment, Engineering, and Life Sciences & Healthcare. Participating in
the competition will grant the students the chance to showcase their projects
to investors and meet sponsors, opening the doors for their career.
The project was ranked the first among 100 projects in the first
phase of AIN Innovation Competition. The project has yet to be showcased in
front of a panel of experts, a phase that accounts for about 90% of the
competition.
The AIN Innovation Competition 2014 will be taking place over two days on September 27th and
28th, 2014, at Rotana Yas Island Abu Dhabi, UAE.
K.F./T.R.
