Climber
MakeMIT is a hardware focused hackathon held annually at MIT. My team, consisting only of Mechanical Engineers decided to use our strengths and create a stretcher that can climb stairs. As one of our team members had experience being transported in an MIT dorm that did not have an elevator, we saw an opportunity for innovation.
Process
- Explored existing technologies of wheels capable of climbing stairs
- Assessed material/time availability and built a rough schedule
- Build!
- Testing
- Implemented changes to improve the comfort of the patient on the stretcher
Challenges
- Limited materials (ex. no wheels, we literally invented the wheel)
- Limited time (15 hours to ideate, build, test)
Future Work:
- Active suspension
- Motorized wheels
- A bed that rotates within the stretcher frame to keep the patient flat even on an incline
- Wheels that can yaw
