Linghua Kong, PhD, Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access;
Xiuyu Sun, ME, Nadia Bhuiyan, PhD, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department, Concordia University, Montreal

ABSTRACT

The ‘Aider’ is an electromechanical device designed to be easily and conveniently attached to manual wheelchairs in order to offer powered mobility. Currently, in facilities such as hospitals and senior homes, manual wheelchairs are prevalent. Since many wheelchair users in these facilities are dependent on mobility, a caregiver or attendant is required to push residents from one location to another. The Aider was designed for use indoors, to be affordable to facilities, and can be attached to existing manual chairs, thereby enabling patients and residents to drive without assistance. This has the great advantage of increasing independence and saving staff time.

Keywords: mobility, wheelchair, aging, nursing home

Linghua Kong, PhD
Center for Assistive Technology and Environment Access
College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology
490 10 th St. Atlanta, GA 30318
Telephone: (404) 385-6338