Reinventing the Wheelchair

Written by Heather Coit
Published in The News Gazette.

Scott Daigle, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Illinois, poses with the first prototype of a wheelchair he is building, which features continuously variable transmissions, or CVT, on each wheel, at Freer Hall in Urbana, Illinois. The manual wheelchair is controlled by a microprocessor designed to maximize a person’s shoulder function. The microprocessor selects gear ratios for the person so he or she can concentrate on other things besides shifting gears.