In February 2020, I attended a three-day assistive technology makeathon at Columbia University hosted by Tikkun Olam Makers. The event was primarily intended for college students, but as a high school junior, I was allowed to participate due to my strong interest in design and fabrication.
Participants were split into teams of four and paired directly with individuals with disabilities to design solutions to their real, unmet needs. My team worked with Linda and James, who are both wheelchair users and shared the same problem of using an umbrella and a wheelchair at the same time.
They explained that existing wheelchair umbrella mounts had several shortcomings:
- Couldn't handle strong winds
- Positioned umbrellas off to the side, providing poor coverage
- Incompatible with many umbrella handle types
- Couldn't handle strong winds
- Positioned umbrellas off to the side, providing poor coverage
- Incompatible with many umbrella handle types
Over the course of three days, our team designed and fabricated a robust, replicable, and cost-effective wheelchair-mounted umbrella holder. The design works with a wide range of wheelchairs and umbrellas, positions the umbrella centrally for better coverage, and incorporates an easy worm gear adjustment mechanism so only the user can reposition it, preventing unwanted movement from wind.
Our team received awards for Best Execution and Best Documentation, and the full design files and instructions were released publicly so others can replicate or adapt the solution.
Project files: https://tomglobal.org/project?id=5e3b94f7d848736b09554582