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 The Scalevo Wheelchair can mount one stair per second and was
designed by 10 students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
(ETH Zurich) and the Zurich University of the Arts.
When being used on normal flat ground it balances on two wheels like
a Segway and allows users to turn on the spot in order to quickly
change direction. Two rubber tracks mounted to the bottom of the
chair can be summoned at the press of a button to allow the user to
climb stairs.
According to Carlos Gomes, of ETH Zurich, "we have two main wheels,
two large wheels to drive around on the flat ground in a balancing
mode like a Segway. And then we have two rubber tracks which we can
extend to the angle of the stairs and let the wheelchair be always
upright on every angle on the stairs."
 Colleague Miro Voellmy said the rubber tracks make the system
entirely safe, even if stairs are uneven or cracked. "Tracks are
excellent for this use case because they have a very large
footprint, which makes it near impossible to tilt, and they are also
very smooth so it doesn't feel like you're driving up stairs, so it
just feels like you're driving up a ramp because they're so flat and
they adapt to the stair profile. So it doesn't matter if the stair
is wooden or metal or glass, the tracks they grip and there's no
danger of slipping," said Voellmy.
Scalevo ascends the stairs backwards. When it reaches a set of
stairs, the user presses a button to lower the tracks to the ground
and its rubber grips hook onto the steps above to propel the chair
and its occupant upwards. As it reaches the top a smaller pair of
support wheels descend to prevent the wheelchair from toppling over.
By traveling backwards the user can see what is below them, while a
small video device similar to those used as reverse parking cameras
in cars is fitted on Scalevo's arm, allowing them to see where they
are going.
"The great thing is that everything on this wheelchair is
automated," said Voellmy. "If I want to climb the stairs I can just
drive up to them, turn around, press one button and all I have to do
is control the velocity I want to drive at. The alignment on the
stairs, the leveling of the wheelchair driver, is automated and he
can control it, he can view the back with a back facing camera, and
have a full, safe, driving experience."
The designers believe that, if adopted widely, their technology
could negate the necessity for access ramps and in-house stair
lifts, while wheelchair users could have the option of avoiding
out-of-the-way lifts.
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"It was built very compact, so it's not much wider than a classic
manual wheelchair and it can still go under tables, you can go
through narrow doors and use it indoors without any hassle, so it's
extremely compact in comparison to different wheelchairs and it's
very easy to use," said Voellmy.
Their prototype was built in ten months and has been subjected to a
series of tests. According to Gomes, "we tested the wheelchair on
several staircases, even on a spiral staircase, because we can move
the tracks independently and all kinds of staircases we are able to
drive (on) like from 34 to 17, I think, degrees. And this is almost
every stair. You can drive everywhere."
Previous stair-climbing wheelchairs have failed to make the grade.
Six years ago the iBot, devised by Johnson & Johnson product was
discontinued, regarded as expensive, and requiring users to have use
of at least one arm and some upper body control, according to the
Huffington Post.
Scalevo's makers believe that when it eventually comes to market,
their stair-climbing wheelchair will not be much more expensive than
traditional wheelchairs.
Scalevo is also taking part in the 2016 Cybathlon, an ETH-organized
championship for pilots with disabilities using advanced assistive
devices.
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