World First : The LEGO Wheelchair
So here is a prototype of my latest project, the LEGO Wheelchair which is capable of moving a 90KG person around a room using just LEGO Mindstorms, LEGO Technic and Rotacaster multi-directional wheels. This is still a prototype and under constant development however I really wanted to let people see what I have been up to.
My wife giving version 0.8 a test drive.
Me having an initial go on version 0.5.
The lastest version uses 6 LEGO Mindstorms NXT’s for moving and 1 NXT(master) for controling the direction. Each of the driving NXT’s has 2 NXT motors attached to it and 2 touch sensors used to control direction. The master NXT has 4 touch sensors connected (forward, back, left and right) and 2 motors to switch on the drive touch sensors. It is programmed in RobotC.
One of the next things on the list is to add remote control to the wheelchair using an Android device. The chair is controlled via 1 NXT, this will be very straight forward to control via bluettooth.
Special thanks goes to LEGO and Rotacaster for supporting this project!
How much does the chair weigh? What language is it programmed in? And have you considered using BlueTooth and the high speed communications on sensor port 4 to get the bricks talking to each other instead of motors pushing touch sensors? BricxCC has sample programs for high speed communication, if you need it.
Hello there, thanks for visiting. The chair is pretty heavy, I would guess at 20kg. It is programmed in RobotC 3.0. I am going to use Bluetooth as a remote control via an Android device. I have thought about using the RJ485 port which I was using for T1 robot. I was trying to stick to LEGO only pieces
Oh wow this is so cool! I’m usually a lover of kitchen accessories and the like but this is definitely my kind of gadget. How long has it taken you to develop and build this thing?!
Awesome! How are you generating so much torque in the drive system. My guess is that the plastic gears will have a hard time standing up.
I was wondering about two things:
1. Do you have a materials list for building this thing and how much did it cost you to purchase all of these ?
2. if I wanted the chair to carry a heavier person, say 130-135 kgs, what kind of changes would be needed to accommodate this ?
I really need something like this for my extremely mobility limited mom to move around the house. The slow speed and the low ground clearance are the essential elements for me due to my house’s layout and mom’s ability to operate machinery or lack there of