Concept development and rula analyis of a virtual prototype wheelchair for physically challenged persons

Abstract

A wheelchair is one of the common internal locomotive vehicles used by handicap or sick people who are limited in their functions, such as it needs human force to move it and carry the person from a bed to a wheelchair. This study aims to design and develop a wheel chair using concept generation, concept design, and selection of a concept using different selection methods. Various designs of different parts in a wheelchair have been generated and suitable designs are combined to generate concepts. The Pugh chart and weighted decision matrix have been used to select the best concept based on the criteria. The selected concept has been modeled and analyzed using CATIA RULA module. Human comfort has been analyzed using RULA analysis. It was identified that current virtual prototype developed is safe and comfortable for the caretaker and patient.