Tech-Savvy Wheelchair User Constructs Portable Ramp With 3D Printer

A simple, yet brilliant assistive accessory for wheelchair users created some serious buzz  in Las Vegas at CES International, an annual consumer electronics and technology show, which show promoters call "the world's gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies."

Each year, technology enthusiasts from all over the world descend on Las Vegas to view the latest in gadgets, hardware, software, and technology from all demographics. In recent years, much of the focus has been on rapidly emerging 3D printing technology.

Until fairly recently, this new technology was basically out of reach to the general public. Because the first generation of 3D printers were large, slow, and bulky, usually only engineering firms and universities had access to them. In the past few years, however, 3D printers have gotten smaller and less expensive and are becoming more available to the general public, who are using them to produce everything from automobile parts to action figures to firearms parts.

The 2014 CES International conference showed this diversity in spades, with heart-shaped ashtrays for Valentine's Day to colored octopus statues. What was perhaps the most intriguing, however, was a device created on Thingiverse, a web site that allows users to create digital designs which can then be translated via 3D printers into physical objects. The device was a portable wheelchair ramp.

The ramp, designed by wheelchair user Raul Krauthausen, can be quickly employed to help wheelchair users navigate curbs, steps, and other hurdles to buildings that don't have adequate handicap access. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), an ailment that causes bones to break more easily and heal less completely, Krauthausen has devoted his life to helping people with disabilities adjust to the hardships they must overcome in daily life.

Using his own MakerBot Replicator 2 printer, Krauthausen had been focusing on the usual knick-knacks that many folks create with 3D printers until he saw someone's design for a wheelchair cup holder— and he realized that he could turn his efforts to really useful designs. On his blog, Krauthausen writes: To date, relatively few items designed for wheelchairs are available on Thingiverse.

So I began experimenting with some basic shapes, and it dawned on me pretty quickly that I could print two wheel chocks that would help me ride up small steps in my power wheelchair. The ramps should be large enough to allow you to ride up a decent-sized step, yet small enough and light enough to fit into the back pocket of the wheelchair.

He also notes that it took some time to get the project right, as his own skills were still minimal at the time. Early versions were too steep to be usable, and it took time and the help of friends to perfect the design. Says Krauthausen, "We optimized the shape, reduced the steepness, added a non-slip surface for the wheels, and experimented with stability."

His current design can be found on Thingiverse, but he warns that it is still a prototype and will continue to be updated, upgraded, and further perfected as he hones his own skills with 3D design technology. Still, in a world where new technology is all too often relegated to cheap entertainment gee-gaws, it's awesome to see someone focus the technology on an area that's underrepresented and sorely needed.

Learn more about Raul's passion for invention and wheelchair accessibility in the video. If you had a 3D printer, what aids would you print for yourself?

Sources: prsnlz.me/science-and-tech/wheelchair-user-designs-a-3d-printable-portable-ramp/ cesweb.org/about-us raul.de/inspiring/printing-a-mini-wheelchair-ramp-yourself-with-a-3d-printer Image Sources: raul.de ifra.net zeroproject.org oezratty.net rapidreadytech.com