Designing an appliance to ease entering the Ziesel

Abstract: In Schwaz, Austria, there is a company developing energy solutions and all-terrain vehicles, i.a. the Ziesel. The wheelchair users, who constitute an estimate of a third of all customers, are attracted by the Ziesel particularly because it doesn’t look like a wheelchair. It also helps them enjoy all the benefits from getting out into the nature. However, the structure of the frame gives this customer group a challenge to enter the Ziesel, as the seat is situated both high up and far into the Ziesel. Because of this position of the seat and obstructing elements on the Ziesel, it will be problematic to choose an optimized angle between the wheelchair and the seat at the transfer moment. Because of the current frame structure of the Ziesel, the company does not have a lot of possibilities to make the transfer easier for wheelchair drivers. The goal of this project is to develop an appliance that would ease entering their vehicle for wheelchair users. The project is divided into two parts, creating a requirement specification and developing several concepts. The requirement specifications were written after taking consideration to the company, user and customer criteria. Relevant input and feedback was gathered through meetings and surveys directed to wheelchair users. Multiple concepts have been developed and sent to Mattro, some of them good from a user perspective and some from a time, effort and budget friendly perspective. A requirement specification and four concepts, of which two are recommended, are presented as a result of this project. During this project, a thorough study has been done to examine which transfers are easy or hard to practice to and from a wheelchair. With the results from this project, more people that did not have this opportunity before can take part of and enjoy nature. This knowledge will make a great difference in future development of new products and vehicles for Mattro.