An Affordable Wheelchair Suspension System
FALL 2020 - Created as part of ME 263: Sophomore ME Design, our team of four members collaborated across four different countries to conceptually design an in-wheel suspension system at an affordable cost.
While most of the design process was team-based, my individual design contributions to the team include creating the complete assembly of the wheel in Autodesk Fusion 360 and creating final renders of the product (pictured above) to be used in our team's final presentations.
The Design Process
This project was a semester-long exercise in team-based design while utilizing a formal mechanical engineering design process. Specific steps we practiced include:
- Problem Definition & Customer Research
- Specification Development
- Concept Generation
- Engineering Modeling
- Iterative Design
- Final Recommendations
Concept Generation
As part of the concept generation design phase, I drafted and illustrated four of sixteen total concepts (pictured left) from our team's generated morphological chart. Among these, concepts four and six were selected to proceed to the next stage of selection, and concept six was eventually selected as the final concept.
Engineering Modeling
I also individually coducted a shear force analyses to select purchased components. The slide pictured below shows analysis completed on machine screws that were to interface between brackets and dampers at the center hub of the wheel.
