Everyone loves a clever kid, especially when they invent something that could get them on Letterman. Such is the case with John Hinkle, a high school senior who wowed the crowd at the Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair recently. He used the revolutionary Wiimote to create a head-movement powered wheelchair controller, an item that could go eons in the rehab world, helping people unable to move their arms drive their wheelchairs by simply tilting their head. I would even love this, and I can use a joystick just fine. Here's a great blog and video about his invention.
But like all OMGZ wow amazing inventions in this world, there’s sometimes a hitch. For this novel idea, the only drawback is the aesthetics. As you can see from the photo above, ummmm…yeah. He looks like a crazy person with a laser pointer on his head. While some quadriplegics have given up vanity a long time ago, I certainly haven’t. I give him credit for making the head strap out of leather though. Classy, not wacky, touch.
So here’s a dumbed down version of how this baby works. It’s actually pretty genius! First, the Wiimote goes on your head. 2. A Bluetooth sends the accelerometer readings to a laptop fixed on the wheelchair. 3. The laptop activates these microcontrollers, which direct “servo motors” to pull strings, which are attached to acrylic gates (a flat piece of plexiglass surrounding the joystick) that moves in whichever direction you move your head, doing the actual pushing of the joystick itself. There’s also an emergency stop position - moving your head downward.
This entire contraption took only $534 in parts to make. Not bad at all when you consider how much a medical device company would charge it they got their hands on the patent for this (which sounds like may happen). Hopefully the price won’t go up too much when/if it becomes mass distributed. For some reason this invention wouldn’t be as impressive if it took thousands of dollars to make, versus hundreds. Just sayin’.
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