The day after the BARC Summit, we hosted an Open Source Wheelchair Build Day at GOAT Space. This was a smaller and more freeform event to get together some amazing assistive tech hackers, inventors, and builders to explore what we might be able to do together. We had 20+ people drop in over the day.
Erik Kondo from https://opensourcewheelchairs.org flew out to us (with travel money from OSHWA) actually riding a chair he designed and built from PVC pipe, the Piper. He also shipped us the kids’ version, the Half-Pipe for us to use as an example.
Ralf Hotchiss came and talked to us about his experience creating the Rough Rider and making it internationally available via his organization, Whirlwind Wheelchair International. It was amazing to hear his stories from the 60s, 70s, and 80s and beyond! He also was so helpful in the actual build process for the Piper even though I was a little embarrassed at our not-yet-complete workshop and machine tools!
Dana Schwachman from Make Good talked about her designs for TOM and the new, still evolving designs for Make Good’s 3d printed Toddler Mobility Trainer chair. Dana was also a hardworking, expert builder as we worked on the Piper!
And Corbett O’Toole was there to help teach various skills and talk with everyone about what it is possible to make, invent, and modify. Corbett was doing a lot of work getting people to try things they had not experienced before (like using pipe cutters or other tools).
The day is hard to describe because so many things were happening at once, and I was running around looking for things people needed and doing other “host” things nearly the entire day. Also, during the event, people dropped in and asked for fixes or loaner equipment or dropped things off for us! So we were operating as usual in the middle of our event — wheelchairs don’t stop breaking and people don’t stop needing stuff!
We need better (sharper? electric/bandsaw? ripsaw? everything) stuff to cut with, and need to set up our drill press before we do another build day! A dremel would also be good.
I have more to say about the day, and some nice short video clips to share later, but wanted to do a quick summary of our experience!
We didn’t have time to do any prep or a test build, as this was a very spur of the moment event (only planned one week ahead of time!). Next time, we will be more prepared with our tools and parts and supplies though.
The Piper design currently up on Erik’s site is basically a parts list with a little extra info and pictures. There are also some videos out there. We struggled a little cutting the side guards, and with what order to assemble things in, and caught a few parts errors and omissions. When we do a full documentation of a step by step build we’ll also include the list of tools you will need and a time estimate. It took a fairly chaotic crew of us a solid afternoon to get the Piper cut out, the tubes bent, and the chair assembled, but we didn’t actually drill the holes for the bolts so while it looked good, it was not testable yet! That final step should be coming soon, maybe this week.
What I had not realized is that the Piper model Erik was riding is the first and only one he built. Every time he builds, it is something new to test out a new idea, meeting a different need or using new materials. I think this design is good enough that our “adding new step by step documentation” contribution will be useful to other people who want to try out a build and would like more detailed instructions.
It could also be a great class project, for example, preparing the parts in one class, then doing the assembly in a second class. Or having a skilled team do the cutting and bending, and inviting students or volunteers to assemble several chairs at a build party, like Make Good’s hosted events!
Another goal once we get that step by step info more solid, could be an online tool for measuring a person and resizing the chair to custom fit them. We had two visitors last week who actually built a custom Piper last fall, so we are hoping to learn more working with them!
