ETH project Scalevo wins global innovation competition

National Instruments Corporation (“National Instruments”) sponsors the NI LabVIEW Student Design Showcase as part of National Instruments’ 2015 Graphical System Design Achievement Awards in order to recognize and reward excellence and innovation in student design of applications using National Instruments’ LabVIEW. The winner of the 2015 edition is the project Scalevo.

The Scalevo wheelchair combines two well-known systems into one spectacular device. On the one hand rubber tracks are used, which offer optimal grip on difficult terrain on the other hand sturdy wheels are implemented that grant mobility and freedom on flat ground.

On the stairs the two tracks are folded out to adjust to the angle of the stairs. The track material was specifically built for stairs, which gives it the desired grip and safety. Once the wheelchair reaches the top of the stairs two small wheels are extended in the back, which prevent the chair from tilting over.

On flat ground the wheelchair balances on the two large wheels. These allow it to turn on spot and to move through tight spaces.

The Team Scalevo
The group combines many different talents. There are eight students of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, of which seven study mechanical engineering and one electrical engineering, as well as two designer students from the Zurich University of Arts (ZHdK). The project was founded by one of the team members. He proposed it to the Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL), which now supervises the project.

The students of the ETH Zurich could choose this undertaking as part of the yearly “Focus Projects”. These year-long project can be done during the third year of the bachelor studies.

End of May the team already demonstrated the prototype to the public in the main building of ETH Zürich. A wooden stair was used show how the stair climbing process works. An amazing video in our video section shows how the wheelchair climbs stairs.