Mobilizing the disabled in developing countries
Did you know there are 20 million people with disabilities in the developing world that could benefit from using a mobility device? There are organizations that try to provide wheelchairs to them, but they are overlooking the real problem. People need a mobility device to help regain lost mobility, but a wheelchair is useless in the vast majority of the developing world because of the rough terrain.
A solution to this problem is to use sustainable materials that are readily available in many developing countries such as bamboo and bicycle parts, in order to build handcycle devices that can universally attach to any wheelchair, thereby making travel possible on very rough terrain. An ASU bioengineering team will travel to Africa during the summer to teach students and workers to build the devices, creating new jobs and providing more independence to the disabled through our device. If they don't already have a wheelchair to attach to, we will build them a new wheelchair out of bambo
Hey that is a great idea that you have! My name is Meghana and I am part of Ignite@ASU. If you don’t know who we are, I highly encourage you check out our website igniteasu.com. We are looking for students, staff, and community members who have creative ideas to come speak at Ignite@ASU. We want you to be able to connect with the community and spread your great ideas with people all throughout ASU!
Ignite @ ASU is a public event on April 4th, 2012 in downtown Phoenix for great thinkers and doers to gather, share ideas, connect with others and create change. It features rapid-fire 5 minute presentations that bring ASU students, faculty, staff and community members together to build more connected, vibrant communities.
Our theme this semester is "The Evolution of Community." This topic was chosen so that it can encompass a wide range of topics, from architecture to social media. I think that your topic of mobilization of all members of society would make a great presentation.
To apply and learn more, visit igniteasu.com or contact me at myanaman@asu.edu. Submissions due on March 1st by 11:59 pm.
Application takes less than 10 minutes.
I wasn't aware of that movement to create new bamboo forests in Mexico. That would be better to manufacture bamboo bikes and bamboo handcycles in the U.S., since the bamboo supply is closer. It would also be beneficial to manufacture devices locally in Mexico, creating new jobs where they are needed more.
I think that when you consider that there is bamboo in many countries across the world, particularly many developing countries, the socio-economic benefits to those countries would be tremendous if there were workshop infrastructures developed to build handcycle devices out of bamboo. The resources would be local, cheap, and available in a large renewable supply. The jobs created building the devices would bost the economy, as well as the ability for people confined to wheelchairs to contribute more to the economy around them due to their increased mobility to travel long distances to work.
Here is a link to my updated design: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69470196@N03/6320776015/
Derrick, I can see that using bamboo is a sustainable material for third world countries, but why not just use bicycle parts?? I don't see how it is possible to fabricate something that has bamboo and metal binded together without it easily breaking. Do you already have this thought out?
Also, I can see a problem that you might run into with variability in the bamboo diameters...so how can you be sure that you can fit a smaller piece of bamboo perfectly into the inner diameter of a larger piece of bamboo, without it being too loose and unstable? I think you have a pretty good idea though...
Brett, we have figured out a method that can be used to bind bamboo together at the joints of the frame with other bamboo and also metal, forming a very strong bond that basically forms a solid frame. Using bicycle parts is probably the second best idea for developing countries because they are not too difficult to come by. The problem with using bicycle parts is that it actually requires more fabrication and the need to weld the frame together.
With bamboo, you only need a few simple tools to fabricate the frame, and only a few bicycle parts, requiring no welding. It would be much easier to use bamboo to teach people in workshops because it would require only basic training.
As far as the variability in bamboo diameters, it really isn't as big of an issue as you might think. There will be some variability and you will have to match up the right pieces together, but the diameter of a single bamboo pole is pretty uniform in diameter. There may be the need to work with the bamboo a little bit so that it fits together perfectly...but with our testing so far with bamboo, this hasn't been an issue.
That makes sense...but how would using bicycle parts require more work?
When you are talking about binding the bamboo joints together I am a little bit confused about how you go about doing that.
Using strictly bicycle parts would require a lot more work because there is a lot of variability in bicycle frames...therefore you can't really create a standard procedure that can be followed to fabricate the device. Since we are going to be training people that have no expertise in the area, it would be easier to train them to use bamboo because they can ideally harvest the right size bamboo for the frame. With bicycle parts, it would be basically using the bicycle parts that are available and they would have to do a lot of improvising due to the variability in bicycle parts. The bicycle parts that we are using in our design are only a few...and the ones we are using generally do not have much variability across different bicycle types.
For joining the bamboo joints together, we will be using hemp fiber that we soak in an epoxy and then we tightly wrap the joints with it. The joints completely dry in about 24 hours to create a solid frame. We are still researching methods for using a natural epoxy and natural hemp fiber so that the device can be as cheap and sustainable as possible.
If you have a chance, please take a look at the solution that I built off of this. I have included much more detailed design pictures and our overall goal and how we plan to do it.
Check out my new video for this solution!!!
I am also looking to bring this idea to the U.S. market for people in need of an attachable handcycle device. There is a company that sells bamboo bike kits that ships a kit to the customer that includes everything that they would need to build a bamboo bicycle.
I am thinking of doing something similar for the U.S. market, where I ship bamboo attachable handcycle kits to customers at a very low price, giving them the ability to build it themselves.
Another thought that I have is making it possible for people that want to help in the U.S. to purchase a kit to build the bamboo attachable handcycle, then donating the handcycle that they make to someone in need in a developing country. The devices could be donated and shipped to developing countries through organizations such as Project C.U.R.E that ships medical supplies to developing countries. I think this would be a very attractive idea for people that want to help out in ways that go beyond just donating money. With this option, they would be able to actually put their time and effort into building something that they know will improve the quality of someone's life.
What do you think of that?
Comment below to provide feedback on this solution. If you’re inspired by it and would like to take it in a new direction, you can build on this solution.