OpenChair

Wheelchairs are one of the most used accessibility devices worldwide, however, the prices for electric wheelchairs are still too high (starting at about 1000€) and they are certainly not open for the user to hack. With this project we intend to build an open-source, affordable electric wheelchair the user can modify to suit their needs. After searching for a combo of motors, drivers and battery+charger powerful enough to transport an adult for more than ten minutes, we came to the conclusion that taking advantage of mass production was the smartest thing to do and went ahead and got a hoverboard. For about 270€ new (and with the huge number of sales, probably a lot less in a second-hand store) you get 2x350W brushless motors and a 36V 4400mAh LiPo battery, giving you a range of up to 20km per charge.