Amos Winter: The cheap all-terrain wheelchair

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Mile Živković Lektor: Anja Saric

Living with a physical disability isn't easy

Živeti sa invaliditetom nije lako

anywhere in the world,

bilo gde u svetu,

but if you live in a country like the United States,

ali ako živite u zemlji poput SAD,

there's certain appurtenances available to you that do make life easier.

postoje određene pogodnosti koje čine život lakšim.

So if you're in a building, you can take an elevator.

Tako u zgradi možete ići liftom.

If you're crossing the street, you have sidewalk cutouts.

Ako prelazite ulicu imate isečene delove u trotoaru.

And if you have to travel some distance farther

A ako morate da pređete neku udaljenost

than you can do under your own power, there's accessible vehicles,

koju ne možete preći uz pomoć sopstvene snage, tu su prilagođena vozila.

and if you can't afford one of those,

Ako ne možete da priuštite tako nešto,

there's accessible public transportation.

tu je prilagođeni javni prevoz.

But in the developing world, things are quite different.

Ali u zemljama u razvoju, stvari su dosta drugačije.

There's 40 million people who need a wheelchair but don't have one,

Postoji 40 miliona ljudi kojima su potrebna invalidska kolica ali ih nemaju

and the majority of these people live in rural areas,

i većina ovih ljudi živi u ruralnim sredinama,

where the only connections to community, to employment, to education,

gde su jedine veze sa društvom, zaposlenjem i obrazovanjem,

are by traveling long distances on rough terrain

dostupne putovanjem preko dugih relacija na teškom terenu

often under their own power.

i to često sopstvenom snagom.

And the devices usually available to these people

A sprave koje su obično dostupne ovim ljudima

are not made for that context, break down quickly,

nisu napravljene za takav kontekst, često se kvare,

and are hard to repair.

i teško popravljaju.

I started looking at wheelchairs in developing countries in 2005,

Počeo sam da posmatram invalidska kolica u zemljama u razvoju 2005

when I spent the summer assessing the state of technology in Tanzania,

kada sam proveo leto u Tanzaniji, vršeći procenu stanja tehnologije,

and I talked to wheelchair users, wheelchair manufacturers, disability groups,

i pričao sam sa korisnicima i proizvođačima invalidskih kolica, grupama invalida

and what stood out to me

i ono što se istaklo je to

is that there wasn't a device available

da nije postojala nijedna sprava

that was designed for rural areas, that could go fast

koja je smišljena za ruralne predele i koja bi mogla ići brzo

and efficiently on many types of terrain.

i efikasno na više vrsta terena.

So being a mechanical engineer,

Pošto sam inženjer mašinstva,

being at MIT and having lots of resources available to me,

i kako sam na MIT univerzitetu imao puno resursa na raspolaganju,

I thought I'd try to do something about it.

pomislio sam kako bih mogao da probam da učinim nešto povodom toga.

Now when you're talking about trying to travel

Kada pričamo o pokrivanju

long distances on rough terrain,

velikih razdaljina na teškom terenu,

I immediately thought of a mountain bike,

odmah sam se setio brdskog (mauntin) bicikla

and a mountain bike's good at doing this

koji je dobar u ovome

because it has a gear train,

jer ima zupčanik s brzinama,

and you can shift to a low gear if you have to climb a hill

tako da možete prebaciti u manji stepen prenosa ako morate ići uzbrdo

or go through mud or sand

ili proći kroz blato ili pesak

and you get a lot of torque but a low speed.

i dobijate dosta obrtne sile na maloj brzini.

And if you want to go faster, say on pavement,

A ako želite da idete brže, recimo na trotoaru,

you can shift to a high gear,

možete prebaciti u veći stepen prenosa

and you get less torque, but higher speeds.

i dobijate manje obrtne sile, ali veću brzinu.

So the logical evolution here

Dakle logičan napredak ovde bio bi

is to just make a wheelchair with mountain bike components,

napraviti invalidska kolica sa delovima brdskog bicikla,

which many people have done.

što je mnogo ljudi i učinilo.

But these are two products available in the U.S. that

Ali ovo su dva proizvoda koja se mogu kupiti u SAD

would be difficult to transfer into developing countries

i koje bi bilo teško prebaciti u zemlje u razvoju

jer su veoma, veoma skupi.

because they're much, much too expensive.

And the context I'm talking about is where

Kontekst o kome pričam je takav

you need to have a product that is less than 200 dollars.

da morate da imate proizvod koji košta manje od 200 dolara.

And this ideal product would also be able to go

I ovaj savršeni proizvod bi takođe mogao da prelazi

about five kilometers a day so you could get to your job, get to school,

oko pet kilometara dnevno kako biste stigli na posao, u školu,

and do it on many, many different types of terrain.

i da to sve uradite na puno različitih vrsta terena.

But when you get home or want to go indoors at your work,

Ali kada dođete kući ili kada želite da uđete u zgradu na poslu,

it's got to be small enough and maneuverable enough to use inside.

taj proizvod bi morao biti dovoljno mali i okretan da se koristi i unutra.

And furthermore, if you want it to last a long time out in rural areas,

Štaviše, ako biste želeli da taj proizvod dugo traje u ruralnim sredinama,

it has to be repairable using the local tools, materials and knowledge

morao bi se moći popraviti koristeći dostupne alate, materijale i znanje

in those contexts.

iz tih konteksta.

So the real crux of the problem here is,

Tako da je prava srž ovog problema,

how do you make a system that's a simple device

kako napraviti jednostavan uređaj

but gives you a large mechanical advantage?

koji vam daje velike mehaničke prednosti?

How do you make a mountain bike for your arms

Kako napraviti brdski bicikl za ruke,

that doesn't have the mountain bike cost and complexity?

koji nema cenu i kompleksnost brdskog bicikla?

So as is the case with simple solutions,

Kako je obično slučaj sa jednostavnim rešenjima,

oftentimes the answer is right in front of your face, and for us it was levers.

odgovor vam je često ispred nosa, a za nas je taj odgovor bio - poluga.

Stalno koristimo poluge, za alate, kvake na vratima, delove bicikla.

We use levers all the time, in tools, doorknobs, bicycle parts.

And that moment of inspiration, that key invention moment,

I taj trenutak inspiracije, ključni trenutak izuma,

was when I was sitting in front of my design notebook

desio se dok sam sedeo sa sveskom za nacrte u rukama

i počeo da razmišljam o tome kako neko grabi polugu

and I started thinking about somebody grabbing a lever,

and if they grab near the end of the lever,

i ako uhvate kraj poluge,

they can get an effectively long lever

dobiće efektno dužu polugu

and produce a lot of torque as they push back and forth,

i proizvešće dosta obrtne sile prilikom guranja napred i nazad,

and effectively get a low gear.

i efektivno će dobiti niži stepen prenosa.

And as they slide their hand down the lever,

A kako klize prema dnu poluge,

they can push with a smaller effective lever length,

mogu da guraju sa manjom efektivnom dužinom poluge,

but push through a bigger angle every stroke,

ali bi sa svakim pokretom gurali pod većim uglom,

which makes a faster rotational speed, and gives you an effective high gear.

što bi dalo veću brzinu okretanja i efektivno veći stepen prenosa.

So what's exciting about this system

Ono što je uzbudljivo u vezi sa ovim sistemom

is that it's really, really mechanically simple,

je to da je mehanički veoma jednostavan

and you could make it using technology

i može se napraviti koristeći tehnologiju

koja nam je dostupna već stotinama godina.

that's been around for hundreds of years.

So seeing this in practice,

Sada možete videti ovo u praksi,

this is the Leveraged Freedom Chair that,

ovo su polužna slobodna invalidska kolica,

after a few years of development,

sa kojima nakon par godina razvoja,

we're now going into production with,

idemo u proizvodnju,

and this is a full-time wheelchair user --

a ovo je je stalni korisnik kolica -

he's paralyzed -- in Guatemala,

on živi u Gvatemali i paralizovan je,

and you see he's able to traverse pretty rough terrain.

i vidite da može da pređe poprilično nezgodan teren.

Again, the key innovation of this technology is that when he wants to go fast,

Još jednom, ključna inovacija ove tehnologije je to da kada želi da ide brzo,

he just grabs the levers near the pivots and goes through a big angle every stroke,

on samo zgrabi poluge blizu osovine i svakim pokretom prolazi kroz veliki ugao

and as the going gets tougher, he just slides his hands up the levers,

i kako napor postaje veći, samo diže ruke uz poluge,

creates more torque, and kind of bench-presses his way

stvara veću obrtnu silu i na svojim mišićima se izvlači

out of trouble through the rough terrain.

iz nevolja teškog terena.

Now the big, important point here is that

Važno je napomenuti da je ovde

the person is the complex machine in this system.

čovek kompleksna mašina u celom sistemu.

It's the person that's sliding his hands up and down the levers,

Čovek je taj koji prebacuje dlanove sa jednog na drugi kraj poluge,

so the mechanism itself can be very simple

tako da sam mehanizam može biti veoma jednostavan.

and composed of bicycle parts you can get anywhere in the world.

I sastoji se od delova bicikla koji se mogu naći bilo gde u svetu.

Because those bicycle parts

Jer su ti delovi bicikla

are so ubiquitously available, they're super-cheap.

lako dostupni i izuzetno jeftini.

They're made by the gazillions in China and India,

Prave ih na milijarde u Kini i Indiji,

and we can source them anywhere in the world,

i možemo ih dopremiti bilo gde u svetu,

build the chair anywhere, and most importantly repair it,

napraviti invalidska kolica bilo gde, i što je najbitnije popraviti ih,

even out in a village with a local bicycle mechanic

čak i u selu sa lokalnim majstorom za bicikle

who has local tools, knowledge and parts available.

koji ima tamošnji alat, znanje i delove.

Now, when you want to use the LFC indoors,

Kada želite da koristite naša kolica unutra,

all you have to do is pull the levers out of the drivetrain,

sve što treba da uradite je da izvadite poluge iz pogona,

stow them in the frame, and it converts into a normal wheelchair

i odložite ih u ram i pretvaraju se u obična kolica,

that you can use just like any other normal wheelchair,

koja možete da koristite isto kao i sva ostala.

and we sized it like a normal wheelchair,

Napravili smo ih iste veličine kao i ostala invalidska kolica,

so it's narrow enough to fit through a standard doorway,

tako da su dovoljno uska da prođu kroz standardna vrata,

it's low enough to fit under a table,

dovoljno niska da stanu pod sto,

and it's small and maneuverable enough to fit in a bathroom

i dovoljno mala i pokretna da stanu u kupatilo,

and this is important so the user can get up close to a toilet,

a ovo je bitno kako bi se korisnik mogao približiti toaletu,

i kako bi se mogao prebaciti,

and be able to transfer off

just like he could in a normal wheelchair.

kao što bi uradio i sa normalnim kolicima.

Now, there's three important points that I want to stress

Postoje tri važne stvari koje bih želeo da naglasim

that I think really hit home in this project.

i za koje mislim da su pun pogodak na ovom projektu.

The first is that this product works well because

Prvo je to da ovaj proizvod dobro funkcioniše

we were effectively able to combine

jer smo uspeli da efikasno spojimo

rigorous engineering science and analysis with user-centered design

rigoroznu nauku mašinstva i analizu sa dizajnom usredsređenim na korisnika

focused on the social and usage and economic factors

fokusiranu na društvene, ekonomske i faktore korišćenja

important to wheelchair users in the developing countries.

koji su bitni korisnicima invalidskih kolica u zemljama u razvoju.

So I'm an academic at MIT, and I'm a mechanical engineer,

Ja sam akademik na MIT univerzitetu i inženjer mašinstva,

so I can do things like look at the type of terrain you want to travel on,

tako da mogu da radim stvari poput sagledavanja terena na kom želite da putujete

and figure out how much resistance it should impose,

i otkrijem koliko će vam pružiti otpora.

look at the parts we have available and mix and match them

Mogu da izmešam delove koje imamo

to figure out what sort of gear trains we can use,

i otkrijem kakve zupčanike možemo koristiti

and then look at the power and force you can get out of your upper body

i onda uzmem u obzir snagu i silu koju možete izvući iz gornjeg dela tela

to analyze how fast you should be able to go in this chair

i analiziram koliko brzo biste mogli ići u ovim kolicima

as you put your arms up and down the levers.

dok pomerate ruke gore i dole niz poluge.

So as a wet-behind-the-ears student, excited,

Tako da sam kao neiskusan i uzbuđen student,

our team made a prototype,

sa svojim timom napravio prototip,

brought that prototype to Tanzania, Kenya and Vietnam in 2008,

i odneo ga u Tanzaniju, Keniju i Vijetnam u 2008. godini,

and found it was terrible

i shvatio da je užasan

because we didn't get enough input from users.

jer nismo dobili dovoljno podataka od korisnika.

So because we tested it with wheelchair users,

Pošto smo ga testirali sa korisnicima invalidskih kolica,

with wheelchair manufacturers, we got that feedback from them,

kao i sa proizvođačima, od njih smo dobili povratne informacije,

not just articulating their problems, but articulating their solutions,

koje opisuju ne samo njihove probleme, već i njihova rešenja.

and worked together to go back to the drawing board and make a new design,

Zajedno smo se vratili na projektovanje i smislili novi dizajn,

which we brought back to East Africa in '09

sa kojim smo se vratili u istočnu Afriku 2009.

that worked a lot better than a normal wheelchair on rough terrain,

Ovaj dizajn je funkcionisao bolje od normalnih invalidskih kolica na teškom terenu,

but it still didn't work well indoors because it was too big,

ali još uvek nije dobro funkcionisao unutra jer je bio prevelik.

it was heavy, it was hard to move around,

Bio je težak i nepokretljiv,

so again with that user feedback, we went back to the drawing board,

tako da smo se ponovo vratili na projektovanje sa tim povratnim informacijama.

came up with a better design, 20 pounds lighter,

Smislili smo novi dizajn proizvoda, lakši za 9 kilograma,

as narrow as a regular wheelchair, tested that in a field trial in Guatemala,

uzak kao normalna invalidska kolica i testirali ga na terenu u Gvatemali.

and that advanced the product to the point

To je toliko unapredilo proizvod

where we have now that it's going into production.

da se on sada i izrađuje.

Now also being engineering scientists,

Pošto smo takođe i naučnici,

we were able to quantify the performance benefits of the Leveraged Freedom Chair,

uspeli smo da izmerimo prednosti naših kolica u performansama,

so here are some shots of our trial in Guatemala

a ovde su neki snimci naše probe iz Gvatemale

where we tested the LFC on village terrain,

gde smo kolica testirali na seoskom terenu,

and tested people's biomechanical outputs,

a testirali smo i biomehanički učinak ljudi,

their oxygen consumption, how fast they go,

njihov utrošak kiseonika, brzinu kretanja,

how much power they're putting out,

snagu koju su koristili,

sa njihovim redovnim invalidskim kolicima i sa našim.

both in their regular wheelchairs and using the LFC,

and we found that the LFC is about 80 percent faster

Otkrili smo da su naša polužna slobodna invalidska kolica oko 80% brža

going on these terrains than a normal wheelchair.

na ovim terenima od normalnih kolica.

Takođe su oko 40% efikasnija od normalnih kolica,

It's also about 40 percent more efficient than a regular wheelchair,

and because of the mechanical advantage you get from the levers,

i zbog mehaničke prednosti koju pružaju poluge,

you can produce 50 percent higher torque

možete proizvesti 50% više obrtne sile

and really muscle your way through the really, really rough terrain.

i zaista se spostvenim mišićima kretati kroz veoma težak teren.

Now the second lesson that we learned in this is that

Druga lekcija koju smo naučili je to

the constraints on this design really push the innovation,

da su ograničenja na ovom dizajnu zaista pogurala inovativnost.

because we had to hit such a low price point,

Morali smo da imamo tako nizak cenovni rang,

because we had to make a device that could travel

jer smo želeli da napravimo spravu koja bi mogla da ide

on many, many types of terrain but still be usable indoors,

na puno različitih vrsta terena ali još uvek da bude upotrebljiva unutra

and be simple enough to repair,

i da bude jednostavna za popravku.

we ended up with a fundamentally new product,

Na kraju smo dobili fundamentalno nov proizvod,

a new product that is an innovation

proizvod koji predstavlja inovaciju na prostoru

in a space that really hasn't changed in a hundred years.

koji se nije menjao u poslednjih sto godina.

And these are all merits that are not just good in the developing world.

I sve ove vrednosti nisu dobre samo u zemljama u razvoju.

Why not in countries like the U.S. too?

Zašto ne i u zemljama poput SAD?

So we teamed up with Continuum,

Tako da smo se udružili sa kompanijom Continuum,

a local product design firm here in Boston

lokalnom kompanijom za dizajn proizvoda, iz Bostona,

kako bi smo napravili naprednu verziju za razvijene zemlje,

to make the high-end version, the developed world version,

that we'll probably sell primarily in the U.S. and Europe,

koju ćemo verovatno prodavati prvenstveno u SAD i Evropi,

but to higher-income buyers.

ali onim kupcima sa većom platežnom moći.

And the final point I want to make is that I think

Konačno, voleo bih da kažem

this project worked well because we engaged

da je ovaj projekat dobro funkcionisao jer smo umešali

all the stakeholders that buy into this project and are important to consider

sve interesne grupe koje su bitne za ovaj projekat i koje je važno uzeti u obzir

in bringing the technology from inception of an idea

kada se tehnologija vodi od začetka ideje

through innovation, validation, commercialization and dissemination,

kroz inovaciju, potvrđivanje, komercijalizaciju i diseminaciju,

and that cycle has to start and end with end users.

a taj ciklus mora da počne i da se završi sa krajnjim korisnicima.

These are the people that define the requirements of the technology,

Ovo su ljudi koji definišu zahteve tehnologije,

and these are the people that have to give the thumbs-up at the end,

i ovi ljudi moraju da daju zeleno svetlo na kraju,

and say, "Yeah, it actually works. It meets our needs."

i kažu: "Da, ovo zaista radi. Zadovoljava naše potrebe."

Tako da ljudi poput mene u akademskom svetu

So people like me in the academic space,

we can do things like innovate and analyze and test,

mogu da urade stvari poput uvođenja novina, analiziranja i testiranja,

create data and make bench-level prototypes,

stvaranja podataka i pravljenja prototipa,

but how do you get that bench-level prototype to commercialization?

ali kako dovesti te prototipe do komercijalizacije?

So we need gap-fillers like Continuum that can work on commercializing,

Tako da su nam potrebne kompanije poput Continuuma koje mogu da rade na komercijalizaciji

and we started a whole NGO to bring our chair to market --

i pokrenuli smo čitavu NVO da dovedemo naša kolica na tržište -

Global Research Innovation Technology --

Globalne tehnologije inovacija u istraživanju -

and then we also teamed up with a big manufacturer in India, Pinnacle Industries,

i onda smo se takođe udružili sa velikim indijskim proizvođačem, Pinnacle Industries,

that's tooled up now to make 500 chairs a month

koji će proizvoditi 500 invalidskih kolica mesečno

and will make the first batch of 200 next month,

i prva tura od 200 komada biće napravljena sledećeg meseca,

which will be delivered in India.

i isporučena u Indiju.

And then finally, to get this out to the people in scale,

I konačno kako bi ovo dobilo veće razmere,

we teamed up with the largest disability organization

udružili smo se sa najvećom organizacijom invalida na svetu,

in the world, Jaipur Foot.

Jaipur Foot.

Now what's powerful about this model

Ono što je moćno u vezi sa ovim modelom

is when you bring together all these stakeholders

je to kada spojite sve ove interesne grupe

that represent each link in the chain

koje predstavljaju karike u lancu

from inception of an idea

od početka ideje

all the way to implementation in the field,

sve do realizacije na terenu,

that's where the magic happens.

tada se dešava magija.

That's where you can take a guy like me, an academic,

Tada možete uzeti momka poput mene, akademika

but analyze and test and create a new technology

i analizirati, testirati i stvoriti novu tehnologiju

and quantitatively determine how much better the performance is.

i brojčano utvrditi koliko su bolje performanse.

You can connect with stakeholders like the manufacturers

Možete je povezati sa interesnim grupama poput proizvođača

i pričati sa njima licem u lice i i uvećati njihovo

and talk with them face-to-face and leverage their

lokalno znanje o praksi u proizvodnji, kao i o njihovim klijentima

local knowledge of manufacturing practices and their clients

and combine that knowledge with our engineering knowledge

i spojiti to znanje sa našim znanjem o mašinstvu

to create something greater than either of us could have done alone.

kako bi stvorili nešto veće od onog što bi bilo ko od nas stvorio pojedinačno.

And then you can also engage the end user

I onda, isto tako, možete da uključite i krajnjeg korisnika

in the design process, and not just ask him what he needs,

u proces dizajniranja, i ne samo da ga pitate šta mu je potrebno,

but ask him how he thinks it can be achieved.

nego i kako on misli da se to može postići.

And this picture was taken in India in our last field trial,

Ovo je slikano u Indiji tokom našeg poslednjeg testiranja na terenu,

where we had a 90-percent adoption rate where people

gde smo imali stopu prihvatanja od 90% među narodom

switched to using our Leveraged Freedom Chair over their normal wheelchair,

koji je prihvatio naša polužna slobodna Invalidska kolica umesto njihovih običnih kolica.

and this picture specifically is of Ashok,

Na ovoj slici je Ašok,

and Ashok had a spinal injury when he fell out of a tree,

koji je imao povredu kičme nakon pada sa drveta

and he had been working at a tailor, but once he was injured

i radio je kao krojač, ali kada se povredio

he wasn't able to transport himself from his house

nije mogao da se preveze kilometrima od kuće

over a kilometer to his shop in his normal wheelchair.

do svoje prodavnice u normalnim invalidskim kolicima.

The road was too rough.

Put je bio previše težak.

But the day after he got an LFC, he hopped in it,

Ali dan nakon što je dobio naša kolica, uskočio je u njih,

rode that kilometer, opened up his shop

prešao taj kilometar, otvorio prodavnicu

and soon after landed a contract to make school uniforms

i uskoro dobio ugovor da pravi uniforme za škole.

and started making money, started providing for his family again.

Počeo je da zarađuje i ponovo izdržava svoju porodicu.

Ashok: You also encouraged me to work.

Ašok: Takođe ste me ohrabrili da radim.

I rested for a day at home.

Jedan dan sam se odmarao kod kuće.

The next day I went to my shop.

Sledećeg dana sam otišao do moje prodavnice.

Now everything is back to normal.

Sada je sve ponovo vraćeno u normalu.

Amos Winter: And thank you very much for having me today.

Ejmos Vinter: I puno vam hvala što ste me primili večeras.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)