2. DOUBLE COLUMN INTRODUCTION
TOM MAKEATHON VIETNAM 2016
This project is developed as a part of TOM event. The first
ever Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) event in Asia will connect
children who are living with disabilities (CWD) and are
affected significantly by their daily challenges with multi-
disciplinary teams formed specifically to design and
prototype solutions during a 72 hour event.
3. PRESENTATION
• TOM VIETNAM : HO CHI MINH CITY – JUNE 2016
• AUTODESK GALLERY: SAN FRANSISCO – AUGUST 2016
4. MEET THE TEAM
HUY NGUYEN HUY LE
PRODUCT DESIGNER R&D ENGINEER
The greatest interest of
my life lies in the field of
Architecture, Interior
Design and Branding with
a special devotion to
furniture design. As a
designer, I want to
contribute my designs to
the community.
I have a strong passion for
wood industry and furniture
products. I waant to use my
knowledge instructural
engineering to bring to be
person who uses the
knowledge to relize the
dreamof everyone and make
things better.
5. NEED-KNOWER
Phuong Uyen is beautiful little 4-year old girl. But unfortunately, she
was born with physical disabilities and severe cerebral palsy. Her
limbs are very weak and she’s unable to move. She can’t control her
head and neck which caused spinal deformity. She can’t sit, self-
feed, or walk. She has to completely depend on her mom and
grandmother.
At the age of 4, she is supposed to be exploring the world around
her, testing limits. But she only knows “the world” in the 4 walls of her
house. Her mother sadly shared, “Uyen really wants to go out. If I
[mother] don’t carry her out, she will shout and cry. But after carrying
her for a long time, she gets hurt because it causes bad blood
circulation situation and bruises on her limbs. I’m also too busy doing
house chores to take her out frequently.”
Uyen’s family came to the TOM community looking for a chair that
would be suitable to support her spine, adjust its size (height, width)
for her growth, be flexible for different usage, and be made from a
material that would provide good air circulation for extended sitting. A
wheelchair costs $2000 on average and must be replaced every two
years, the family currently only earns $300 a month.
6. REQUIREMENTS
01
Customer requirements:
- Easy to use or change positions.
- Comfortable enough.
- Low weight.
- Low price.
- Suitable for performing as much as possible
activities.
- Easy to dissemble, possibility to change parts
because of damaging.
- Long period of exploitation.
02
Medical requirements
- Firm posture of the spine.
- The angle between the body and lower limbs must
be 90°.
- Head and side support to obtaining proper position.
- Spine, arms, leg, feet support.
- Soft seat in order to avoid wounds.
- Dimensions of the seat must be appropriate for the
child’s dimensions.
- Possibility to add medical treatment accessories.
03
Manufacturers requirements
- Low production price.
- Low market price.
- Modular parts for better and easier reparation.
- Modular accessories for extra activities which
could be sold separately.
04
Ergonomic requirements
- The angle between seat and backrest must be 90 °.
- Possibility to change the angle of the backrest in order to provide
rest position. (90° - 180°)
- Additional supports from both sides of the chests for
providingvertical position of the spine.
- Foot support for stabilization of the body.
- Headrest with special shape as a support for obtaining proper
positionof the head.
7. EASY TO FIX ENVIRONMENT
FRIENDLY
EASY TO
PACKAGING AND
SHIPPING
OPEN SOURCE LOW COST
8. OPEN SOURCE
We plan to make the design blueprints
absolutely free and open source so this chair
can can have the biggest impact and help as
many people as possible.
We have no wish to encourage a dependency
culture, instead we want to help people to
help themselves.
By creating a pictographic construction
manual which transcends language barriers,
we will enable any basic workshop to build
low cost wheelchair for their community.
This will create local jobs in a self-sustaining
industry.
This approach has the potential
to help millions across the globe
find their independence.
We want this project to be a
collaboration between the
citizens of the world.
Open source design means
anyone with the requisite skill
set can contribute by
improving the Uyen’s Chair
design, or modifying it for the
specific needs of their locality.
9. At the moment, there are some solutions on the market. The main problem with the
wheelchair for children with cerebral palsy is that they are not flexible enough and
they are too expensive.
As a result, our team decide to come up with a different design which is not only
flexible formany different demands, but also is affordable for most people, especially
those who comefrom developing countries
10. MAIN CONCEPT
The main concept applies the principles of modularity. It has two
main parts: the drivingsystem and the seat. Due to the demands
from the customer, this wheelchair uses smallwheels for easy
driving in narrow spaces (mostly home), so it is suitable for indoor
use. Therear part has many small holes in order to adjust the seat
height and backrest height. Theangle between the seat and
backrest can help for positioning at 90°, plus it can alsotransform
for lying (180°). There is also storage for attach table or other
additional elements inthe future. Moreover, the head pod can be
adjusted to fix the head position of the child on differentheights. In
addition, the side part is decorated with some pictures and colors to
make it more attractive to the children.
12. PLYWOOD
CUSHION
CASTORS
STEEL
WASHERS
ALUMINUM
PLATLES
BELT
NUTS
MATERIAL
In order to reduce the production cost and the weight, our
team decides to make use of plywood in many of the
components of this wheelchair. Besides, some aluminum
bars are usedto ensure the solidity of the structure. The head
pod part need to be flexible, therefore it isproduced using 3D
printer.
Since plywood is utilized for many parts in our products, the
cost for it is the most significant (around 30$). The second
costly part is cushion because we have to order it from a
third-party company (20$). For processing tasks, 3D printing
and CNC cutting cost the most, both cost us about 40$ in
total. The rest is for other materials and processing tasks.
20. PLATFORMS
DESKTOP FEATURES
You can access file here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0uvssd7CcFXS2tIZkc0
LVNDZTg/view?usp=sharing
For the technical document:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0uvssd7CcFXQV9rMH
VUVlNSLU0/view?usp=sharing
22. CONCLUSION
Within three days, we tried our best to satisfy the needs of
children with cerebral palsy. It was a really hard job. But the
thought of making change in the life of these children is
drivingforce hard enough to keep us moving. Besides, all of
us have a chance to work, learn andshare with each other.
We would like to thank TOM and all the partners for
organizing thisevent. This event is an unforgettable
experience for us and hopefully we can continue to develop
this product, as well as many kind of useful products. We
also wish Uyen will recover soon and hopefully we can help
her or children like her in the future.
