Design and Fabricate an Auxiliary Driving Aid for Drivers with Limited Lower Mobility

What it does

Our driving aid helps people with limited lower limb functionality to drive again safely using only their hands. The main difference with existing driving aids in the market being that our product will be able to work on any vehicle instead of only one.

Your inspiration

This project’s main motivation is to aid the victims of paraplegia and amputation get back to their usual daily routine and lifestyle. Driving is a convenience, particularly to carry out errands. Considering that most public transportation in developing countries are yet to offer full disabled-friendly facilities, our focus has shifted to giving these people the ability to full utilise their upper limbs such as hands and arms. The driving aid designed is conceptualised purely based on the individual’s ability to drive, use of only their arms and risk prevention to avoid worsening their current condition.

How it works

Our one-of-a-kind innovative design uses portability as the core of the design. We wanted a driving aid which is able to be used on any vehicle intended. Thus, we came up with this plug-and-play solution. And since it's to be able to be shifted from car to car as intended, we work towards making it as small as possible for carriage. Besides, we incorporated wireless control into our design to minimize the use of wires which might hinder the steering wheel's movement while driving. 3-D printing is also involved so that our design can be as free and futuristic but at the same time light-weight. Our design works based on the simple principle of force applied to control actuator displacements. We installed pressure sensors on the steering levers so that the harder you squeeze the levers, the more the floor-piece actuators presses onto the accelerator or brake pedals. We came up with this system so as to emulate actual driving using the feet as much as possible.

Design process

We came up with at least 5 main concepts from the beginning, mainly focusing on different attachment designs as that's the main difficulty of our project since it's to be able to fit on as many vehicles as possible to fit the word "portability". Eventually we made the decision to carry out minor changes to the design concepts which includes changes to the steering wheel's clamp and micro-controller box's design to come up with the final 3 concept drawings which sums the total concept drawings to 8. After that, we used a design matrix to decide on which design we should go with. We then started our CAD modelling based on the agreed concept we've chosen. Detailed drawings and assembly drawings are then produced. A progress report is submitted as well as a few reviews done by our lecturers on our design. All these took about 3 months time. After our final review, we made our purchases of raw materials. Once our materials and microchips arrived, we commenced our workshop sessions of fabricating our prototype. After about a month of fabrication, our first prototype, JECO Tech Mark I is produced.

How it is different

- Portability: Other designs available in the market either have a heavy and bulky metal frame that hinders portability or is electronics-based (similar to our design) but involves modification to the vehicles' interior and power system. Our design is aimed at eliminating these issues by making it as small and strong as possible and realizing a plug-and-play system so that it could be fitted on any vehicle to be used. Flexible attachments are designed so that it fits to most vehicles available in the market. - Wireless: Our design is the first of its kind making use of the XBee wireless module to create a wireless system for a driving aid. XBee radiowaves does not interfere with any working electronics in the vehicle as well as the radio, and it can work over at least a 15 m radius, thus providing a safe and steady option for wireless operation. Other electronic-based inventions always have a dangling extendable wire hindering steering movement.

Future plans

Adaptability - Mark I have limited adaptability due to the bulky floor piece design as well as limited resources and cost to create an advanced flexible extendable base - Mark II will employ advanced extendable “click-lock” design for the floor piece feet extensions which are more flexible, sturdy and compact - Mark II will also make the pedal actuators design in such a way that the distance between the pedals are adjustable to accommodate more vehicle’s pedal design. Portability - Mark I has no special handle or casing to make lifting the prototype easier - Mark II will be designed such that it can be folded and carried like a suitcase.

Awards