The actual architecture of standard wheelchair is highly modular, in terms of availability of a discrete range of measures, in order to permit all adjustments required to fit customer ergonomic postures. To guarantee the maximum flexibility in settings, the manufacturer has to invest resources in designing modular products and in producing not always necessary features, thus incrementing the cost of the product as well as wheelchair weight. During the on-site test session, immediately before the final product delivery, accessories or special fixtures are usually defined and, afterwards, assembled. Wheelchairs specifically designed for an individual, with his/her specific needs in mind, already exists on the market, but customization is still not a-fully automatized process, requiring hours of technical time and many fitting sessions to get it right.
There is a need for the integration of a multidisciplinary approach into the parametric design module, it will be possible to introduce a direct connection to disability and ergonomic needs, anthropometry and certification requirements, thus letting the design process automatized.
The pilot will address the challenge by incorporating rapid prototyping and simulation engine which will enable the anthropomorphic parametric design of the required parts of the wheelchair (Frame/footrest) as well as incorporating details on the type and amount of the raw material required for each part. At the same time the validated solution incorporates AI techniques that enable the reduction of the 3D printing materials. Regarding the overall management of the process they will validate the KYKLOS 4.0 Recommendation engine that will enable ProMedicare to maximize their knowledge of their processes and customers by automating customer profiling and enable at design time that the system algorithms analyse the data and create user behaviour models based on users data (usage, orders, profiles, etc.) and suggests optimal configurations of a products. At the same time, based on the production assembly details the system will generate the bill of materials of customized product and all the information required for manufacturing, re-using parts and assembly.
ProMedicares.r.l. (PROMEDICARE)designs and manufactures postural systems for users who need customized wheelchairs. PROMEDICARE’s customers are qualified dealers, i.e. Orthopaedic workshops.Pro Medicare producesboth wheelchair parts and postural system parts after receiving specific inputs provided by the dealer and based on end user needs. Often those dealers need time and support by Pro Medicare to define the specifications.
The production of the parts is currently carried out as follows:
- Manufacturing of wheelchair parts: assembly of components according to the specifications of the technical office within PROMEDICARE.
- Manufacturing of postural system parts: production and assembly of components according to the specifications of the technical office within PROMEDICARE.
The customization is performed by reshaping the basic design of the wheelchair and the postural system developed by PROMEDICARE, according to the dealer specifications, the reference standard, and the design constraints.
Within the pilot. PROMEDICAREaims at including smart designing and production techniques at the design phase to reduce errors at the final product and give added value in the customization and taking advantage of a new methodology and approach to design and produce the next generation of Customized Wheelchair integrating system with postural device.
KYKLOS 4.0will support PROMEDICARE providing a system to design and produce customized wheelchair parts prototypes based on the anthropometry, disability, and ergonomic needs of the final user. Specifically, KYKLOS 4.0 solution will allow Pro Medicate to:
- Simulate footrest design based on anthropometry for the model ZEUS FRAME, which is included in PROMEDICAREproduct catalogue.
- Simulate the support cushion design.
- Check and validate the final product through the simulation in a 3D viewer.
- Assembly the final product using Augmented Reality technology visualization.
PROMEDICAREaims at including smart designing and production techniques at the design phase in order to reduce errors at the final product and give added value in the customization. The benefits provided by KYKLOS 4.0 are:
- Reducing mistakes during the production phase.
- More accurate customization of the delivered product to the needs of the wheelchair user.
- Reduction of lead times.
- Digitalization of the design process which offers greater resource management, agile management, and capability of tracking.
- Optimization of resources, which turns into reduction in manufacturing costs.
- Not specified