Power Wheel Chair Mods

This past week, I finally got my new power wheel chair operational! It is a Golden Compass by Golden Technologies. This chair is awesome!

Now, I want to add some stuff to my new chair. :smiley: Here is what I want to add:

  1. A full set of automobile like turn signals and four way flashers front and rear.

  2. Tail lights and front running lights.

  3. Head lights (with high and low beams, of course, perhaps halogen) that can light up a full standard sidewalk width of concrete. The chair could easily accomodate 3 lamps, one mounted above each front wheel and one mounted in the center between the wheels.

  4. Some sort of programmable eye catching flashers mounted each side of the headrest and and each side of the bottom of the seat (four total).

  5. A LED type programmable nameplate which will have my chair’s name “Blue Streak” (or “Bluestreak”) written with blue LEDs in a cursive font with a yellow LED lightening bolt running through the name. Several different patterns would be possible such as handwriting the name, flashing the name at various rates, etc.

  6. Right or left arm rest mounted control and indicator panel for status.

  7. An odometer with resetable trip meter and speedometer - my chair can do up to about 10 MPH even though it is rated for just 5 MPH.

All except #7 should be pretty easy to accomplish. I can get a 12V 7aH battery and charger from Tower Hobbies to run everything.

Everything has to be water proof since I take my chair outdoors in all sorts of weather - I do live in Oregon afterall. :smiley: Nothing can stick outside of any chair dimension in order to maintain my 19" turning radius. I have to be able to still get on and off city buses easily using the lifts and ramps.

My idea is to have a water proof battery box large enough to hold the battery and all the electronics (microcontroller, etc) with cabling running to the hardware and up to the control/indicator pad on the arm rest.

I am thinking that actual automotive style hardware and lights could be used for the head lights, tail/running lights, and four way hazard lights and am working on a plan for the back nameplate and control for it.

I’m open to feedback and suggestions for doing all of this as it will be something I do over a period of time. My priority right now is to get the lighting setup designed and on the chair as soon as possible, since I need to go out or return home after dark sometimes.

I have always liked the looks of cars like the Couger, 1968 Ford Thunderbird, and simiar uniquely styled cars, so I’d like to model the lighting after one or a combination of these, especially the Couger (tail lights and/or head lights) and 1968 Thunderbird (tail lights and perhaps head lights with covers).

8-Dale

If you want to write the name of your wheelchair with LED’s I suggest getting this controller. I can controll up to 64 LED’s with many features and functions.

robotshop.ca/home/suppliers/ … oller.html

Sounds Like an awsome idea! Go into business!! :smiley: :smiley:

I have looked at that controller and it looks nice. I am not sure how many LEDs I will need for the name plate yet or even how big I want to make it.

It’s a cool idea, but I am not sure there would be enough of a market for such a service to really be viable.

My priority for this project right now is getting usable lights on my chair for night time use.

8-Dale