Scewo: Designing the wheelchair of tomorrow
ETH start-up Scewo has built a power wheelchair, which can not only overcome stairs but also frequent obstacles like curbs, tram tracks, grass, mud or stones. Pascal Buholzer, Pioneer Fellow* at ETH Zurich, gives insight into their current work on a pre-series prototype.
The Scewo wheelchair has drawn a lot of attention lately. Can you explain the hype?
Pascal Buholzer: Our promotion video went viral with millions of clicks in the social media and we received an overwhelming amount of requests for presenting our prototype at exhibits or selling the first units. In my opinion, it is the combination of clever engineering and thoughtful design which makes our product attractive.
What role does industrial design play for your stair-climbing wheelchair?
The first thing that you may think of is the visual design. This is, of course, important, because we want users to enjoy the appearance of our product. We chose a modern and even a bit futuristic look. There are other design aspects, however, which are probably more important: user friendliness and ergonomics.
Can you give us an example?
Working on the armrests was extremely challenging. We had a robust solution, which was compatible with our simple, compact design and the various functionalities like easily accessible steering controls. But then our design expert brought up the issue that people need to easily move into and out of the chair. All of a sudden both armrests had to basically disappear. It took us quite some time to come up with a folding mechanism based on a rotary joint. We managed to hide the unaesthetic cables on the inside. Last but not least, we made a clever cover design so a user can intuitively see how the armrest is supposed to work. Now, we are working together with actual patients in an iterative process on further improvements.
Which competences does the Scewo team bring into the project?
Our core team has four members. Bernhard Winter, Antoine Seewer and myself are mechanical engineers. Thomas Gemperle is an industrial designer who joined us in the early beginnings as part of a focus project between ETH Zurich and ZHdK.
What’s next on your agenda?
You can see us at the ETH Industry Day 2017 on August 29. After that, we will focus all our efforts on the construction of our new prototype. If everything works out as planned, you will find us in the news again in 2018.
* Pioneer Fellowships are granted by ETH Zurich to ETH graduates who want to turn their inventions into market-ready products and services: www.ethz.ch/pioneerfellowship
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