Kit Lowe wheelchair demo-short

Georgia National Guard Sgt. Christopher "Kit" Lowe tries a hands free wheelchair with Merry Lynn Morris. Lowe was critically wounded in Aug. 2009 in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan; he is still recovering from a bullet wound to his upper right thigh. (Lowe was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with V Device for his service in Afghanistan.)

University of South Florida faculty member Merry Lynn Morris is the academic advisor for the School of Theater and Dance. She initiated the idea of developing a hands free wheelchair to increase mobility in disabled individuals Morris was inspired to create the chair after years of caring for her severely disabled father; William Morris was critically injured in a car accident and spent 21 years in traditional hand-operated wheelchairs.

The hands free wheelchair, which was originally called the "Rolling Dance Chair" recently was granted a patent from the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office. Unlike wheelchairs that use only a joystick to move them, the movement of the seat in the hands free wheelchair creates electrical signals, which are transmitted to the wheelchair controller. The chair also possesses a switch, which allows a user to switch from seat control to a hand control as needed. For now, the hands free wheelchair is designed for people who have good core muscle strength and do not have injuries high on their spinal cord.

The current research team which includes Morris, Kathryn DeLaurentis, research coordinator at USF's Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Technology and undergraduate students at the USF College of Engineering, are now building a second prototype of the chair with more advanced features. The new prototype of the chair will be able to accommodate the individual needs of the user and will also offer customized seating options.

You can see a longer in-depth video about the hands free wheelchair at this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ--kw-i6YI

Category:

Science & Technology

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• hands free wheelchair
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• Engineering
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• Afghanistan
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