
Background
Andrew Slorance is a pioneer in the development of wheelchairs. He founded Carbon Black Systems Limited, the company behind the revolutionary light-weight carbon fibre wheelchair that he himself designed. Having set up a new company in 2015, Phoenix Instinct Ltd, his ultimate goal was to design an “Intelligent System” wheelchair that would have a responsive centre of gravity and other Intelligent System (IS) features - a total revolution of the wheelchair as we know it.
The idea was an intelligent manual wheelchair featuring a smart Centre of Gravity (CoG). The system would self-adjust the wheelchair’s CoG so it was always the same as the user’s CoG. The result would be a wheelchair with very little weight on the front wheels giving easier pushing and turning while also being very rearward stable. For the first time ever, a wheelchair would be entirely in sync with the user’s body movements.
Challenge
Andrew wanted to work in collaboration with academics who had expertise in intelligent system engineering and carbon fibre engineering to undertake a feasibility study to determine if his idea of incorporating cutting edge smart systems into an old concept – the manual wheelchair - was practical and achievable.
The analysis would shape Phoenix Instinct’s application to the Toyota Mobility Challenge* prize fund as well as demonstrating to Toyota that the company had academic support for the project.
Solution
Phoenix Instinct was referred to Interface from Highlands & Islands Enterprise and, by exhibiting great tenacity in finding the most appropriate academic partner for the company’s requirements, Kirsty Buchanan, Business Engagement Executive at Interface, was able to connect Andrew to the University of the West of Scotland (UWS).
UWS have a long history of collaboration with external organisations to help drive innovation and deliver real economic, environmental and societal impact. Improving the health, well-being and mobility of wheelchair users through development of the next generation of SMART wheelchair technology represented both an academically challenging and worthy endeavour which UWS were happy to support. The project was supported by the School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences, whose expertise in advanced composites, rapid prototyping (including 3d printing) and product design was utilised throughout the project.
Benefits
The company achieved their goal in working with an academic partner to develop the Toyota Mobility Challenge application and, as a result, were one of five finalists successful in receiving a grant of $500k to develop their concept; as well as the opportunity to attend workshops, receive mentoring opportunities with engineering experts, and collaborate with end-users. The finalists ultimately pitched their concept to Toyota to win a prize fund of a further $1 million. Phoenix Instinct were crowned the ultimate winners at a virtual, live-streamed event in December 2020, winning the $1 million prize fund to help bring its Phoenix i wheelchair to market.
* The Challenge invited engineers, innovators and designers to submit ideas for game-changing technologies to improve the mobility and independence of people with lower-limb paralysis. Central to the Toyota-supported challenge was the need to work with end-users to develop devices that would integrate seamlessly into their lives and environments, while being comfortable and easy to use.