Unitsky String Technologies

10 August 2018

Unimobile: mobility for people with disabilities

We continue the series of publications on the latest developments that were demonstrated to the public during EcoFest-2018. One of them is an electric vehicle for people with disabilities (unimobile).

For the first time in history, the design of this vehicle is based on an engineering solution providing a disabled person with the opportunity to drive a car being in a wheelchair.

"Actually, everything we do is filled with humanism: with the only correct attitude towards the world through love to the entire Mankind and to each person", commented General designer of SkyWay Anatoly Yunitskiy. "We have many people with disabilities among our investors including wheelchair invalids and I promised to help them by expanding their communication possibilities providing new opportunities. Not only for our investors. About 130 million people in the world are disabled wheelchair users, who depend on mobility to receive jobs. With this electric car they can become, for example, taxi drivers or pizza deliverymen. The driver will ride into the car in a wheelchair and, sitting in it, will be able to drive it. The chair itself is designed as a driver's seat with an electric drive, in which one can drive 40 km at 20 km/h speed, that is, the wheelchair itself, which has no analogues in the world, is a small electric vehicle. We will show this development at a specialized exhibition in Moscow in September this year to attract maximum attention not only to the development, but also to the problem of mobility for people with disabilities."

Presently there are several solutions for transportation of invalids in the world, but all of them are mainly based on re-equipment of serial cars:

• minibuses equipped with lifting mechanisms and fixing of wheelchairs inside with tighten belts;
• robotic systems that fold a wheelchair and load it in the luggage compartment automatically. But for the user it remains necessary to move independently from the wheelchair to the driver's seat and back;
• vehicles of class L7 (Quadrocycle), however they have significant limitations in features: weight - up to 400 kg, engine power - not more than 15 kW and maximum speed up to 45 km/h;
• each of these options has its own set of negative qualities and cannot fully serve as a full-fledged solution.

They do not combine all the necessary requirements that are solved in unimobile:

• while working out the technical concept of unimobile, the main task was to provide disabled people with individual mobility and the maximum degree of independence;
   
• unimobile, being a fully-featured car, will allow disabled people to fully realize their potential - to reach their place of work, study, leisure, to lead a more independent way of life;
   
• unimobile was designed taking into account the ergonomic features of people with disabilities and disabled wheelchair users. As a result, the driver or passenger does not need to leave the wheelchair, which is also an automobile seat;
   
• a specially designed lock reliably fixes the wheelchair to the body and ensures safety of the user while driving. A similar lock fixes the passenger seat, which makes it possible to easily change the wheelchair and the seat if necessary. The car will not start moving if the lock is not fixed: a light indicator will let you know about it;
   
• hand controls are comfortable and functional; they duplicate conventional pedals and switches;
   
• access to the vehicle is arranged in such a way that the user, not leaving the wheelchair and without any assistance, can get into the cabin through a special ramp-lift located in the rear part of the body and controlled with a remote console. Light and sound indicators accompany and secure the process of boarding/deboarding the driver and passenger;
   
• reverse-hinged doors and the seat turning mechanism provide a more comfortable boarding;
   
• the overall length of the car allows to park perpendicular to the curb. Such parking provides boarding/deboarding directly on the sidewalk. This feature also allows to park at standard parking spaces, not just at specially reserved sites;
   
• a parking radar and rear view camera simplify parking and increase safety;
   
• the use of rear-view cameras with LCD-displays instead of conventional mirrors provides the necessary overview and image quality;
   
• the car is equipped with an electric drive with a recovery system, which, in addition to economy, has a low level of toxic impact on the environment. The absence of a gearbox makes control easier;
   
• when transporting passengers in wheelchairs by the accompanying driver, the former are also provided with a comfortable boarding/deboarding using a ramp-lift;
   
• the vehicle meets all the safety requirements applied to M1 class cars and can be used on public roads.

Technical specifications:

• maximum speed - 100 km/h;
• drive range - 120 km;
• the curb weight - about 990 kg;
• the battery is charged from in-home network;
• the time of full charging is 10 hours.

As an option, unimobile can be equipped with a wheelchair using electric drive and a cruising range of up to 40 km.

Translation of the video:

For the first time in the history of transport, there appeared an embodied engineering solution, in which a person with a disability being in a wheelchair has the possibility to drive a vehicle. Presently there are several solutions for transportation of invalids in the world, but all of them are mainly based on re-equipment of serial cars.

For example, various types of minibuses are converted with lifting mechanisms and fixing of wheelchairs inside with tighten belts. Another option is some robotic systems that fold a wheelchair and load it in the luggage compartment automatically. But for the user it remains necessary to move independently from the wheelchair to the driver's seat and back. There are also developments of microcars of class L7 (Quadrocycle), however they have significant limitations in features: weight - up to 400 kg, engine power - not more than 15 kW and maximum speed up to 45 km/h. Each of these options has its own set of negative qualities, which we tried to avoid starting the project of Unimobile.

The SkyWay Unimobile will allow disabled people to fully realize their potential - to reach their place of work, study, leisure, to lead a more independent way of life. While working out the technical concept of Unimobile, the main task was to provide disabled people with individual mobility and the maximum degree of independence.

Unimobile was designed taking into account the ergonomic features of people with disabilities and disabled wheelchair users. The driver or passenger does not need to leave the wheelchair, which is also an automobile seat.

Reverse-hinged doors and the seat turning mechanism provide a more comfortable boarding. The overall length of the car allows to park perpendicular to the curb. Such parking provides boarding/deboarding directly on the sidewalk. This feature also allows to park at standard parking spaces, not just at specially reserved sites.

The use of rear-view cameras with LCD-displays instead of conventional mirrors provides the necessary overview and image quality. Maximum speed - 100 km/h. Drive range - 120 km. The curb weight - about 1000 kg. The battery is charged from in-home network. The time of full charging is 10 hours. As an option, Unimobile can be equipped with a wheelchair using electric drive and a drive range of up to 40 km.

Now, the pilot production facility is finishing to manufacture a Unimobile prototype, which will be presented to the public at the specialized exhibition "InvaExpo", which will be held at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements in Moscow on September 12-14, 2018.

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