In Nigeria, West Africa, a young and talented man named Honesty Godwin has built an electric wheelchair with an automatic obstacle avoidance system. The wheelchair, according to Godwin, is foldable and it’s designed to help disabled people to move freely without the help of a third party.
“It has been a burden in my heart seeing disabled people being pushed by another person and over time I have hoped for an opportunity to develop something to aid their movement”
Honesty Godwin
When it comes to talent, the continent of Africa is unrivalled. Since ancient times Africans have demonstrated ingenuity and skills that no one would think they could. From building the mighty Pyramids of Giza in Egypt to the Benin wall and many more wonders. This has been conveyed to the new generation of African geniuses who are currently making positive waves in different fields.
The wheelchair is designed with a joystick at the handle that is responsible to control the movement and direction of the disabled person; It also has ultrasonic sensors to ensure four-axis obstacle detection and avoidance to avoid potholes and slopes. The wheelchair can also be folded and unfolded with a simple-to-use knob at the back – as this will reduce its gross size by 70%.
Building such a device requires a lot of time, energy, patience and above all money. But for Godwin, he used the available materials to put together his device. Because of his passion and zest to solve problems, Godwin had to use local materials and waste to build his wheelchair from scratch.
