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RoughRider Wheelchair
The RoughRider wheelchair is a low-cost, durable and appropriate technology wheelchair designed for use in developing countries. The design of the RoughRider originally was open-source and has been revised with input from wheelchair users in over 40 countries since 1980. The RoughRider was created to fill the demand for a reliable wheelchair for over 20 million disabled people in the developing world who need a wheelchair and do not have one. History The earliest recorded history of a wheelchair was inscribed in stone on a Chinese Sarcophagus in the 6th century A.D. There have been many variations on the basic design since then but standard features always included rear wheels, front caster wheels, footrests, side frames and seating features. Until recently wheelchairs were designed for relatively smooth surfaces and paved streets and were not designed for rugged environments. Thirty years ago, Ralf Hotchkiss, an engineer with paraplegia and a frequent traveler to developing count ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebral palsy, brain injury, osteogenesis imperfecta, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, and more. Wheelchairs come in a wide variety of formats to meet the specific needs of their users. They may include specialized seating adaptions, individualized controls, and may be specific to particular activities, as seen with sports wheelchairs and beach wheelchairs. The most widely recognized distinction is between motorized wheelchairs, where propulsion is provided by batteries and electric motors, and manual wheelchairs, where the propulsive force is provided either by the wheelchair user or occupant pushing the wheelchair by hand ("self-propelled"), by an attendant pushing from the rear using the handle( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appropriate Technology
Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally autonomous. It was originally articulated as intermediate technology by the economist Ernst Friedrich "Fritz" Schumacher in his work ''Small Is Beautiful.'' Both Schumacher and many modern-day proponents of appropriate technology also emphasize the technology as people-centered. Appropriate technology has been used to address issues in a wide range of fields. Well-known examples of appropriate technology applications include: bike- and hand-powered water pumps (and other self-powered equipment), the universal nut sheller, self-contained solar lamps and streetlights, and passive solar building designs. Today appropriate technology is often developed using open source principles, which have led to ''open-source appropriate technology'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized software development model that encourages open collaboration. A main principle of open-source software development is peer production, with products such as source code, blueprints, and documentation freely available to the public. The open-source movement in software began as a response to the limitations of proprietary code. The model is used for projects such as in open-source appropriate technology, and open-source drug discovery. Open source promotes universal access via an open-source or free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint. Before the phrase ''open source'' became widely adopted, developers and producers have used a variety of other terms. ''Open source'' gained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φαγεῖν ' meaning "to eat"; hence ''sarcophagus'' means "flesh-eating", from the phrase ''lithos sarkophagos'' ( λίθος σαρκοφάγος), "flesh-eating stone". The word also came to refer to a particular kind of limestone that was thought to rapidly facilitate the decomposition of the flesh of corpses contained within it due to the chemical properties of the limestone itself. History of the sarcophagus Sarcophagi were most often designed to remain above ground. The earliest stone sarcophagi were used by Egyptian pharaohs of the 3rd dynasty, which reigned from about 2686 to 2613 B.C. The Hagia Triada sarcophagus is a stone sarcophagus elaborately painted in fresco; one style of later A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralf Hotchkiss
Ralf Hotchkiss is an inventor and designer whose company, Whirlwind Wheelchair International, designs wheelchairs for use and manufacture in developing countries, involving wheelchair riders in all of its projects and activities. The organization's mission is "To make it possible for every person in the developing world who needs a wheelchair to obtain one that will lead to maximum personal independence and integration into society." Career Following a motorcycle accident in his junior year at Oberlin University in 1966, Hotchkiss became a paraplegic. Immediately after leaving rehab, Hotchkiss realized how fragile and difficult his wheelchair was to use after hitting a crack in the pavement with the wheelchair, which damaged it to the point of immobility. The crash kickstarted Hotchkiss’ passion for reinventing the wheelchair. Hotchkiss is a 1969 graduate of Oberlin College. Following graduation from Oberlin, he worked for Ralph Nader in Washington D.C. where he founded the Cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraplegia
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural (brain) elements of the spinal canal. The area of the spinal canal that is affected in paraplegia is either the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral regions. If four limbs are affected by paralysis, tetraplegia or quadriplegia is the correct term. If only one limb is affected, the correct term is monoplegia. Spastic paraplegia is a form of paraplegia defined by spasticity of the affected muscles, rather than flaccid paralysis. The American Spinal Injury Association classifies spinal cord injury severity in the following manner. ASIA A is the complete loss of sensory function and motor skills below the injury. ASIA B is having some sensory function below the injury, but no motor function. In ASIA C, there is some motor function below the level of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pneumatic
Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and electrically-powered Gas compressor, compressor powers Pneumatic cylinder, cylinders, air motors, pneumatic actuators, and other pneumatic devices. A pneumatic system controlled through manual or automatic solenoid valves is selected when it provides a lower cost, more flexible, or safer alternative to electric motors, and hydraulic actuators. Pneumatics also has applications in dentistry, construction, mining, and other areas. Gases used in pneumatic systems Pneumatic systems in fixed installations, such as factories, use compressed air because a sustainable supply can be made by compressing Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric air. The air usually has moisture removed, and a small quantity of oil is added at the compressor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheelchair Cushion
Wheelchair cushions are cushions specifically designed to provide comfort and protection against injury for wheelchair users. They also aid in properly positioning the user in the correct posture. Wheelchair users are at great risk for pressure sores. A number of factors are included in the formation of these ulcers including: # Insufficient vascularization in areas of high pressure, typically under bony prominences. # The collection of sweat on the skin due to inadequate air flow. # The presence of local areas of elevated temperature. # Shear stresses on the skin. A number of studies point to interface pressure between the body and the seating surface as the primary contributor to the formation of pressure sores. In response, manufacturers have developed a number of wheelchair seat cushion alternatives. Over 200 models of wheelchair cushions were on the market as of 2001. Characteristics Various characteristics, combined with a number of cover material options, offer a my ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheelie
In vehicle acrobatics, a wheelie, or wheelstand, is a vehicle maneuver in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to sufficient torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels, or rider motion relative to the vehicle. Wheelies are usually associated with bicycles and motorcycles, but can be done with other vehicles such as cars, especially in drag racing and tractor pulling. History The first wheelie was performed by trick bicyclist Daniel J. Canary in 1890, shortly after modern bicycles became popular. Writing in 2009, Mike Seate related to the U.S Army motorized cavalry training in 1943, pictured in Life magazine. Seate described "vaulting trenches and beach obstacles" and interpreted this technique as "High speed wheelies, naturally". Daredevil Evel Knievel performed motorcycle acrobatics including wheelies in his shows. Doug "The Wheelie King" Domokos has accomplished such feats as a wheelie. Types Types of wheelie can be divided into two broad ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
