Solar Wheelchair Wins Competition

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A student team from the University of Virginia School of Engineering won first place in the 2012 World Cerebral Palsy Day “Change My World in One Minute” competition with their prototype design of a solar-powered wheelchair with retractable panels. Seventeen million people worldwide live with cerebral palsy, a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that [...] The post Solar Wheelchair Wins Competition appeared first on Solar...

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inetdog

Re: Solar Wheelchair Wins Competition

RSSfeed wrote: »

A student team from the University of Virginia School of Engineering won first place in the 2012 World Cerebral Palsy Day “Change My World in One Minute” competition with their prototype design of a solar-powered wheelchair with retractable panels. Seventeen million people worldwide live with cerebral palsy, a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that [...] The post Solar Wheelchair Wins Competition appeared first on Solar...

The panels can operate the chair at a constant speed of 1MPH indefinitely without batteries. (Well during the day anyway....)

The 1 meter² of panel looks like it could recharge the battery in about 3 hours, in addition to extending the range on battery plus solar about 40% beyond battery-only range.

ggunn

Re: Solar Wheelchair Wins Competition

inetdog wrote: »

The panels can operate the chair at a constant speed of 1MPH indefinitely without batteries. (Well during the day anyway....)

The 1 meter² of panel looks like it could recharge the battery in about 3 hours, in addition to extending the range on battery plus solar about 40% beyond battery-only range.

Neat, but those sharp corners at head level for a standing person look pretty scary!

bmet

Re: Solar Wheelchair Wins Competition

Plus the weight of the panels has to be added to the total weight cability of the chair, or else risk burning out the drive motor prematurely.