Alejandro learning to drive his wheelchair.
(Credit: Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET)
Most 2-year-olds are toddling around, getting into everything they can reach. A little boy named Alejandro has the same desire to explore as any other kid, but his movements are limited by Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a degenerative genetic disease. He is a bright and social child, but his condition has left him physically very weak.
The foot pedals created for the wheelchair. (Click to enlarge.)
(Credit: Hacking SMA)
Health insurance hasn’t been much help, saying Alejandro will have to wait five years to get a powered wheelchair. That wasn’t acceptable to his parents, so dad Shea took matters into his own maker hands. “Our best option was to for me to try to build something myself,” Shea writes in his Hacking SMA blog documenting his family’s experience.
The project started with an adult-size powered wheelchair purchased on eBay for $800. Shea modified the seat and had to pick up batteries. The biggest challenge was reworking how the wheelchair is controlled.
“Alejandro’s toes, while quite w… [Read more]
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