Mobile lifting platform for wheelchair users

Many older buildings have not been constructed to be handicapped accessible. Wheelchair users often have to be manually lifted on to platforms. For this reason, Procap – the association for people with disabilities in Switzerland – commissioned students at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland to develop a lifting platform for wheelchair users. Their requirements were that the  lifting platform should  be mobile, lightweight, compact , safe and cost-efficient. A market analysis was carried out as part of a bachelor's degree project for the Engineering and Management degree programme. This showed that there is no comparable lifting platform on the market.

As part of several semester projects, Mechanical Engineering students developed a collapsible, aluminium lifting platform. The small number of individual parts can be stored and transported without taking up much space. Despite the compact design, the lifting platform is stable and therefore secure. A prototype is under construction .

Project information

• Client: Procap Schweiz
  
• Implementation: Students on the BSc Mechanical Engineering and BSc Engineering and Management degree programmes
• Supervision: Professor Hans Rudolf Manz