Design Issues
Chris Swift, of
Molten Rock Equipment
Ltd, discusses the trials and
tribulations of designing an
off road wheelchair that can
handle extreme terrains.
Like all good design stories, it began with identifying a need and culminated in a
solution – the Boma off road wheelchair. However, this story has been far from
straightforward and certainly not without its trials and tribulations, but then all good
stories have some drama.
I became a wheelchair user (tetraplegic; impaired use of arms and legs) after
a neurological illness at the age 19, while studying agricultural engineering at
university. When I returned to complete my studies, I quickly realised my days of
driving tractors were over. However, I still had a love for farm engineering and the
countryside but it seemed getting ‘on site’ in a muddy fi eld would present diffi culties.
Through university, and afterwards, I tried all manner of vehicles, from ATVs
to big powered wheelchairs to get back off road but nothing came close to my
requirements. That’s why, in 2005, I started Milton Keynes based Molten Rock
Equipment Ltd.
Problem areas
There certainly seemed to be a need for a new off road wheelchair, so I began
by generating a design specifi cation based on suggestions from physically disabled
individuals. The fi rst problem was fi ltering out the key problem areas from the varied
Getting off the
beaten track
20
www.ied.org.uk
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