An Innovative Approach at Assisted Climbing

Although society is moving towards more handicap accessible facilities it has not tailored to walker users who need an efficient way to move up and down flights of stairs. People with limited mobility need to have a reliable walker that can assist them up and down stairs as well level ground; currently there are none in the market. In the United States, there are 6.1 million people who use a walker, cane, or crutches. The team has designed a walker that consists of a triwheel attachment on the front legs, two vertical handles, and a telescoping leg feature on the rear shafts. The modified walker will allow the user to safely walk up and down the stairs of a maximum height of eight inches with the use of a sensor. The sensor will indicate whether the walker can overcome the stairs with the use of an LED light that flashes green or red, for yes and no respectively. Initial tests show that the triwheel design functions correctly and that the addition of the two vertical handles will ease the motion of the tri-wheel up each step. To test our device we will be using a flow chart for each walker component. A survey will be conducted to obtain information on the walker’s stability and ease of use.