Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras claim to have created India’s first indigenous motorised wheelchair vehicle, which can be used on both highways and rough terrain. It’s called ‘NeoBolt,’ and it has a top speed of 25 kmph and a range of up to 25 kilometres per charge. When compared to automobiles, auto-rickshaws or adapted scooters, it provides wheelchair users with a convenient, safe and low-cost method of outdoor movement, they added.
According to the researchers, NeoBolt is powered by a lithium-ion battery. India presently imports 2.5 lakh of the three lakh wheelchairs sold in the nation each year, according to the study. Products with equivalent characteristics are only accessible on the worldwide market and are three to five times more expensive than the IIT Madras researchers’ creations.
The researchers worked closely with organisations and hospitals that serve people with locomotor disabilities, including their feedback and making ongoing design modifications, the team said.
While the institute’s Centre for Rehabilitation Research and Device Development created the wheelchair, it was commercialised by a company called ‘Neo Motion.’ The wheelchair, according to Sujatha Srinivasan of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras, would cost around 50,000 rupees.
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‘The motor-powered attachment, NeoBolt, converts the wheelchair into a safe, road-worthy vehicle that can navigate any kind of terrain that we may normally encounter — drive through unpaved streets or climb a steep gradient. And do this comfortably as it has suspensions to absorb the shocks,’ Srinivasan said.
‘Products with features comparable to NeoBolt are available only in the global market and are at least three to five times more expensive,’ she added.
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