Amos Winter: The cheap all-terrain wheelchair

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Minji Seo 校对人员: Yingxue Sun

Living with a physical disability isn't easy

对残疾人而言，在世界上任何一个地方

anywhere in the world,

生活都很不容易

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

但如果他们生活在像美国这样的国家

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

至少可以得到很多切实的让生活更便利的辅助

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

比如在建筑物里，你可以乘电梯

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

过马路时，你可以走专门的人行道

And if you have to travel some distance farther

如果你想要去很远的地方

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

你可以坐现成的车

and if you can't afford one of those,

即使你付不起费用

there's accessible public transportation.

你依然可以选择公共交通

But in the developing world, things are quite different.

然而在发展中国家，情况就非常不同

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

有4千万人急需轮椅，却得不到

and the majority of these people live in rural areas,

这些人大多数住在乡村

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

他们只能在崎岖的路上

are by traveling long distances on rough terrain

通过自己的努力行走很长的距离

often under their own power.

才有机会进入社区，获得工作，接受教育

And the devices usually available to these people

更糟糕的是，这些人的代步工具并不合适当地的环境

are not made for that context, break down quickly,

它们容易损坏

and are hard to repair.

而且难以修复

I started looking at wheelchairs in developing countries in 2005,

从2005年起，我开始关注了发展中国家的轮椅问题

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

我花了一个夏天在坦桑尼亚考察科技状况

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

我与轮椅使用者，轮椅制造商，残疾人团体进行了交谈

and what stood out to me

结果我发现

is that there wasn't a device available

现有的工具

that was designed for rural areas, that could go fast

都不是专门农村地区设计的

and efficiently on many types of terrain.

它不能在多种地形上高速高效地行进

So being a mechanical engineer,

因此，作为一个机械工程师

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

在麻省理工我拥有许多可用的资源

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

我想我要尝试做点什么

Now when you're talking about trying to travel

当你们谈到在崎岖的路上

long distances on rough terrain,

长距离行进时

I immediately thought of a mountain bike,

我立刻想到了山地自行车

and a mountain bike's good at doing this

山地自行车很擅长做这件事

because it has a gear train,

因为它有变速器

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

你可以调到低档来爬坡

or go through mud or sand

或者穿越泥浆和沙地

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

力矩变长，但是速度很慢

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

如果你想骑得快一点，比如在人行道上

you can shift to a high gear,

你可以调到高档

and you get less torque, but higher speeds.

力矩变短，但速度加快

So the logical evolution here

顺着这个逻辑

is to just make a wheelchair with mountain bike components,

只需要在轮椅上加装山地车的零件

which many people have done.

这件事很多人都做过

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

但美国市场上的两款产品

would be difficult to transfer into developing countries

想进入发展中国家都很困难

因为他们太贵了，太贵了

because they're much, much too expensive.

And the context I'm talking about is where

我所说的背景是

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

你需要的是一个低于200美元的产品

And this ideal product would also be able to go

而且这个理想的产品还能够每天行驶五公里左右

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

这样你才能去上班，上学

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

以及在许多许多不同地形上使用它

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

但当你到家了或者工作时需要进入室内

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

它足够小足够灵巧，从而能在室内使用

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

此外，如果你想在乡村长时间使用它

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

那它必须是可修理的

in those contexts.

可以使用当地的工具，材料和知识来修理塔

So the real crux of the problem here is,

所以问题的关键在于

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

怎么制造一个系统

but gives you a large mechanical advantage?

既简单，又能带来很大的好处

How do you make a mountain bike for your arms

怎样为自己的双臂制造一辆山地车

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

却比真正的山地车便宜而且简单呢

So as is the case with simple solutions,

答案常常就在眼前

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

那就是杠杆

我们一直在利用杠杆，工具，门把手，自行车部件

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

And that moment of inspiration, that key invention moment,

灵感和关键发明来临的那一刻

was when I was sitting in front of my design notebook

我正坐在我的设计手册前

我设想有人在拉一根杠杆

and I started thinking about somebody grabbing a lever,

and if they grab near the end of the lever,

如果他们在靠近杠杆末端的地方拉

they can get an effectively long lever

他们就可以获得一个有效的长杠杆

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

从而在来回推动时产生一个长力矩

and effectively get a low gear.

以及一个低速齿轮

And as they slide their hand down the lever,

当他们把手顺着杠杆滑下去

they can push with a smaller effective lever length,

他们推的杠杆长度变短

but push through a bigger angle every stroke,

但是每次推动的角度更大

这产生一个更高的旋转速度和一个高速齿轮

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

So what's exciting about this system

这个系统令人兴奋之处在于

is that it's really, really mechanically simple,

它的机械结构真的，真的非常简单

and you could make it using technology

你可以用通行了几百年的技术

来制造它

that's been around for hundreds of years.

So seeing this in practice,

看实际运行状况

this is the Leveraged Freedom Chair that,

这就是杠杆化自由轮椅

经过几年的研究实验后

after a few years of development,

we're now going into production with,

我们即将要生产的新一代轮椅

and this is a full-time wheelchair user --

这是一位需要一直使用轮椅的危地马拉人，

he's paralyzed -- in Guatemala,

他已经瘫痪了

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

你可以看到他能够穿越相当崎岖的路面

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

这项科技的核心创新点在于

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

当他想走的快点，他可以握住靠近抽心的位置作大角度的推动

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

当进入较糟的路面，他只需要握住握杠的上部

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

就可以推动较大的扭力

out of trouble through the rough terrain.

让他自己推离不平地地形

Now the big, important point here is that

这种设计最大的重点在于

the person is the complex machine in this system.

操作者是整个系统中的复杂机器

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

使用者移动他自己的手来精密控制轮椅

so the mechanism itself can be very simple

因此机制本身很简单

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

而自行车的零件在世界任何一个地方都可以得到

Because those bicycle parts

因为自行车零件

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

非常常见，所以他们的造价很便宜

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

中国和印度的许许多多的工人都可以制造这些零件

and we can source them anywhere in the world,

我们可以在世界上任何地方买到需要的零件

build the chair anywhere, and most importantly repair it,

在任何地方制造轮椅，并且最重要的是

even out in a village with a local bicycle mechanic

我们可以在任何地方修理它们。这一点，即使是居住在乡村里

who has local tools, knowledge and parts available.

只有当地的工具，知识和零件的自行车修理师也可以办到

Now, when you want to use the LFC indoors,

当你需要在室内使用时杠杆化自由轮椅时

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

你只要把杠杆从传动系统中拔出来

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

放在支架内，它就变成了普通轮椅

that you can use just like any other normal wheelchair,

于是你就可以把它当做普通轮椅来使用

and we sized it like a normal wheelchair,

我们按照普通轮椅的尺寸来打造它

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

它的宽足以通过标准的走廊

it's low enough to fit under a table,

它的高足以从桌子底下通过

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

它小而灵巧，足以在浴室中使用

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

这重要性在于让使用者可以靠近马桶

从轮椅坐过去

and be able to transfer off

just like he could in a normal wheelchair.

就像他，在一般轮椅也能做到的

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

我想强调三点

that I think really hit home in this project.

这三点触及到了这个项目的精髓

The first is that this product works well because

第一点是项目成功的原因在于

we were effectively able to combine

我们有效地把严谨的工程科学

rigorous engineering science and analysis with user-centered design

与以用户为中心的设计分析结合起来

focused on the social and usage and economic factors

聚焦于社会，利用和经济因素

important to wheelchair users in the developing countries.

这对发展中国家的轮椅使用者非常重要

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

我是麻省理工学院的学者，我也是一个机械工程师

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

我可以通过观察你所行进的路面的类型

and figure out how much resistance it should impose,

计算出它会产生多大的阻力

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

通过了解我们已有的零件，混合并拼凑它们

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

想出我们可以使用哪一种变速器

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

通过考虑上肢可以产生的能量和力气

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

分析出当你把手臂在杠杆上面上下移动时

as you put your arms up and down the levers.

能以多快的速度行进

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

根据这些，我的菜鸟学生们很兴奋地

our team made a prototype,

制造了一个样品

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

在2008年把这个初样带到了坦桑尼亚，肯尼亚和越南

and found it was terrible

发现它非常糟糕

because we didn't get enough input from users.

因为我们没有得到足够的使用者的反馈

So because we tested it with wheelchair users,

所以我们与轮椅使用者，轮椅制造商

with wheelchair manufacturers, we got that feedback from them,

一起进行测试，收集他们的建议

not just articulating their problems, but articulating their solutions,

不仅仅是采集他们的问题，而是采集了他们认为好的解决方法

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

然后我们回来重新画了设计图

which we brought back to East Africa in '09

09年，我的团队把经过修改的样品带到了东非

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

新一代样品在崎岖路面上的行进效果比普通轮椅要好得多

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

但在室内行进效果仍然不好

it was heavy, it was hard to move around,

因为它太大，太重，难以转动

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

得到了使用者的回馈，我们再次回到了试图板上

came up with a better design, 20 pounds lighter,

想出了一个更好的设计。新设计比之前轻了20磅

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

跟常规轮椅一样窄。我们在危地马拉进行了一次路面测试

and that advanced the product to the point

这项产品

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

进展到了现在我们能开始量产的状态

Now also being engineering scientists,

同时作为工程科学家

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

我们可以量化杠杆化自由轮椅的表现

so here are some shots of our trial in Guatemala

这是几张我们在瓜地马拉做试验的照片

where we tested the LFC on village terrain,

我们在农村里测试杠杆是轮椅

and tested people's biomechanical outputs,

也测量人们的生物力学产出

their oxygen consumption, how fast they go,

氧气消耗量，进行速度

how much power they're putting out,

及他们推动轮椅所消耗的力量

与一般轮椅以及杠杆式轮椅比较

both in their regular wheelchairs and using the LFC,

and we found that the LFC is about 80 percent faster

我们发现在这些环境里

going on these terrains than a normal wheelchair.

杠杆式轮椅比起一般轮椅快了百分之八十

比起一般的轮椅，也多了百分之四十的效率

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

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

也由于杠杆的机械特性

you can produce 50 percent higher torque

你可以多产生百分之五十的扭力

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

让你可以走过非常崎岖的道路

Now the second lesson that we learned in this is that

第二，我们学到了

the constraints on this design really push the innovation,

设计上的限制也推动了创新

because we had to hit such a low price point,

因为我们必须降低价格

because we had to make a device that could travel

因为我们要做出一样可以适应很多地形

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

能在室内使用

and be simple enough to repair,

设计简单易于修理的轮椅

we ended up with a fundamentally new product,

我们最后发明了全新的产品

a new product that is an innovation

一样新产品

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

过去一百从未出现的创新

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

这些优点不只能套用在开发中国家

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

也可以带到像美国这样的国家

So we teamed up with Continuum,

我们与Continuum合作

a local product design firm here in Boston

这是一家在波士顿当地的制造商

打造了一款高阶版本

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

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

我们会在美国及欧洲

but to higher-income buyers.

贩卖给高收入的顾客

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

最后我想说的

this project worked well because we engaged

这项计划能成功

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

是因为我们结合了所有参与计划的人

in bringing the technology from inception of an idea

将这项科技从概念

through innovation, validation, commercialization and dissemination,

到创新，验证，商用，推广

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

这链结于使用者紧密相扣

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

他们有对这项科技的需求

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

最终他们举起了大拇指称赞

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

而且说“这很好用，刚好符合我们的需求”

像我一样在学术界的人

So people like me in the academic space,

我们可以做一些像创新，分析，测试

we can do things like innovate and analyze and test,

create data and make bench-level prototypes,

建立资料，设计实验阶段的原型机种

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

但你要如何将原型机种带入到商业产品

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

我们需要像Continuum可以帮助我们跨越屏障的公司

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

我们成立了一个非政府组织"Global Research Innovation Technology"

Global Research Innovation Technology --

来将我们的轮椅带到市场上

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

并于印度的大型制造商 Pinnacle Industries 合作

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

每个月制造500台轮椅

下个月

and will make the first batch of 200 next month,

which will be delivered in India.

第一批将在在印度推出

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

最终，为了把它大量地提供给人们

we teamed up with the largest disability organization

我们与全球最大的身障组织

Jaipur Foot 一同合作

in the world, Jaipur Foot.

Now what's powerful about this model

这个模式的好处

is when you bring together all these stakeholders

是当你结合所有

that represent each link in the chain

参与这个链结的人

from inception of an idea

从概念的发想

all the way to implementation in the field,

到现实中的实作

that's where the magic happens.

神奇的事发生了

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

你可以找到一个像我一样

but analyze and test and create a new technology

做分析，测试，设计的人

and quantitatively determine how much better the performance is.

并且量化它的性能有多好

You can connect with stakeholders like the manufacturers

同时也连结赚钱的制造商

跟他们面对面

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

整合他们的制造程序，客户

local knowledge of manufacturing practices and their clients

and combine that knowledge with our engineering knowledge

在与我们的工程知识结合

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

做出一个比我们各自单独能做的还要好的东西

And then you can also engage the end user

你也必须拉进使用者一起参与设计过程

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

不只是问他们所需要的

but ask him how he thinks it can be achieved.

也问他们认为什么是行得通的

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

这是我们最后一次在印度做实验时拍的照片

where we had a 90-percent adoption rate where people

有九成的人从一般轮椅

更换到使用我们的杠杆式轮椅

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

and this picture specifically is of Ashok,

特别是Ashok

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

Ashok 从树中掉下来后脊柱损伤瘫痪

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

以前他是个裁缝师，自从受伤后

he wasn't able to transport himself from his house

他没办法坐在一般轮椅上

over a kilometer to his shop in his normal wheelchair.

从一公里远的家里移动到市集

The road was too rough.

因为路程太颠簸了

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

然而，拿到杠杆式轮椅的同一天

rode that kilometer, opened up his shop

他就走过那一公里，开始营业了

and soon after landed a contract to make school uniforms

并且很快地拿到了学校制服的合约

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

开始赚钱，再次养家活口

Ashok: You also encouraged me to work.

Ashok: 你鼓励我去工作

I rested for a day at home.

我在家休息一天后

The next day I went to my shop.

隔天我就去工作

Now everything is back to normal.

现在一切都恢复正常了

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

Amos Winter: 感谢你们来听我演讲

(Applause)