MIT’s Mobility Lab has been working to design a device that improves
conditions for people with disabilities living in developing nations. The
project seeks to address the fact that fewer than 1 percent of the need for
wheelchairs in these countries is met by local production; small local workshops
simply cannot produce mass quantities of current wheelchair designs at
profitable costs.
The MIT team is currently developing the Leveraged Freedom Chair design,
built from inexpensive bicycle parts, with chain-driven engineering for moving
over the mud and rocky paths found frequently in these environments.