Scalevo - The Stairclimbing Wheelchair - ETH Zurich

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The Scalevo wheelchair is a student project started in Summer 2014 at ETH Zurich. #ETHZ
The wheelchair is electric powered and balances on two wheels while driving on even ground. To climb and descend stairs or overcome bigger obstacles a set of tracks can be lowered dynamically to keep the user level at all times.
The driving speed on the stairs and balancing on the ground demonstrated in the video will be increased after further testing.
More info on our project website:
scalevo.ch/

[@barrylichina]

Lots of people are complaining that this thing is slow, but imagine if you are not physically capable of walking, "rushing" to any places is probably the least of your concern! Keep up the good work Scalevo!

[@mura_saki]

What if its a Doctors apointment for leg surgery.

[@JerrBear81]

I don't know about you, but I know about me. My ideal wheelchair doesn't climb stairs

[@theillogicalpunk5752]

Your kidding right I have my wheelchair going the max legal speed all the time. I've got places to be. A 15min walk can easily become and houer in a chair. Disability slows you down enufe you dont want your mobility devices making geting from a to b even slower. Not to mention everybody staring at you while you just have to sit there.

[@JerrBear81]

@@theillogicalpunk5752 Right? My wheelchair goes 6 mph, but people can definitely walk faster than that! It takes me at least an hour just to cover a 3 mile distance (sometimes shorter or longer depending on traffic)

[@theillogicalpunk5752]

@@JerrBear81 exactly. Where I am legally your chair cant go after than 4mpa which infuriates me. You can go up to 8 on a road but my chair cant do that besides I wanna get the but I wanna get there alive and roads where I am just arnt equipped for that. I never thought I'd miss running for a bus but I kinda do. Not even the running but just the geting there bit.

[@riparianlife97701]

The look of joy on his face brought tears to my eyes. That could be any of us, at any time. And when he popped up to look at the view! Amazing!

[@pinkrose5796]

This is AMAZING!!! A person that needs to go up or down stairs that for whatever reason isn't able to, this is a lifesaver! This would enable someone to go to museums, parks, homes, any place that isn't wheelchair friendly or requires another person pushing them up the wheelchair ramp. Not every person has the upper body strength to push themselves up a ramp And not everyone has an electric wheelchair. BEST INVENTION I'VE SEEN!!!;;

[@anggiaanggia]

Great invention! Way to go! As a wheelchair user, watching this video makes me realize that in no time everywhere will be accessible for me. When there's no ramp, no elevator it's always such a pain in the a$$ to wait for someone to help you know.

[@moviestars6720]

1.58 True happiness on him, that he can climb stairs without anyone's help. Kudos guys.

[@brendafoster4712]

This is a very awesome wheelchair and it must be exhilarating for wheelchair-bound people to be able to climb the stairs by themselves...job well done for all involved in the design and manufacturing of this marvelous wheelchair!

[@Dragore94123]

This is such a good step in the right direction. Wanna see more bad ass tech like this for people with mobility needs. Keep this up

[@i.krahman9272]

Words are not enough to thank to those who r behind this wonderful innovation

[@chacedk9239]

This thing is just what I need.. Compact and the possibillities of getting up stairs to visit friends and family. I hope it gets produced

[@chambertlo]

I love how stylish the chair looks, and the functionality really fills a void for those who use wheelchairs, but damn, the sun can rise and set by the time you go up a set of stairs. I understand that it has to do this methodically, especially when you consider the types of people on wheelchairs, but that was just painfully slow. Other than that, amazing job! You guys should be proud of yourselves.

[@weefeatures]

M Saez It's also about the principle of the design. You won't go from standard wheelchair to perfect rapid stair-climbing chair, but it's going in the right direction (I know there are other chairs with rotating wheels that climb stairs, but this particular caterpillar track design is the first I've seen)

[@MagnumDB]

M Saez Looked a bit slow at the start but once the entire track is against the stairs, it seems to go faster. And who knows, maybe it can go faster but they went slow here for testing purposes, or maybe they have future plans to make it faster.

[@morgancalvi6675]

Have you ever heard 'function over fashion'?

[@brendafoster4712]

@@morgancalvi6675 That's my sentiments, too...I can't imagine wanting to go too fast because there could be a bad accident waiting to happen climbing the stairs too quickly. I noticed the rider had to tip himself skywards a couple times and I'm guessing it's to prevent the rider from slipping out of the chair...I would want a seatbelt to ensure no accidents happen.

[@mozkitolife5437]

The smile on the user says it all. That's the most important outcome for this entire venture. I salute you.

[@ricardotanaka242]

It's priceless how amazing technology can be!! It's simply beautiful to see people's life changing for better. Great work!!

[@morgancalvi6675]

Show me technology then.

[@lonelyoldman55]

First to those that are critical of this chair, if you are unable to walk and unable to climb stairs or steps then you would be thankful. There aren't always ramps or other means available. There are still places that aren't wheelchair friendly. Ten years ago I had pretty much the same attitude about people in wheelchairs. But that all changed when on October 5th, 2006, my daughter was injured in an automobile accident which left her paralyzed from the waist down. And living in a area where hills and steps are common place a chair like this or anything similar would be wonderful.

[@ichigouzumaki324]

+Zula Zaboomafoo Just like a moronic comment I red, someone complaining about how slow it climb the stairs. I guess that person thought it should climb the stairs at 10MPH. Sorry to hear about your daughter.

[@dianequelch3771]

Can I buy this I'm in England

[@Yewtewba]

@Diane Quelch Not for now, unfortunately. Go here to pre-order/contact the company. scewo.ch/en/preorder/ It's to be released at the end of 2019 in Switzerland.

[@voidofspaceandtime4684]

the ibot wheelchair does this though

[@TheNecroserpent]

The smile on your face is worth a million. May god bless you brother!!

[@AlexisMorales-nm6gc]

Technology is so amazing it’s giving back independence to the ones who lost their independence which is totally beautiful

[@N0RT0X]

Este tipo de cosas son las que me motivan para estudiar mi carrera, cambiar el mundo y la vida de las personas mediante la ingeniería. Tiene que ser una autentica maravilla trabajar en este tipo de proyectos, y en este concretamente. Muchísima suerte

[@karimaelhaj8479]

Porfi necesito saber si este tipo de silla son disponible en España

[@gametime9311]

You guys are doing great and this is some amazing work of engineering! You’re a great example of the amazing people at ETH

[@scewo_official]

Hey there, thank you so much for the awesome feedback.💙 Means a lot to us!

[@FelixNBR]

Awesome to see what mankind is able to do and invent. Great work!

[@Hughes86]

Cool. A nice piece of engineering. The chairs design is very well made and it looks graceful. Hopefully these will available and fordable for those who would need them, in the near future.

[@tomridey8768]

Amazing. It gives a new ray of hope to those using wheelchairs. Thanks

[@ari54x]

This is really cool. I think the only thing you could ask more from a wheelchair is to be able to climb stairs forwards, but even not being able to see forward while climbing stairs must really help empower people to access areas that they haven't been able to in the past.

[@TheTinidril]

Who downvotes something that is so innovative and will revolutionize life for disabled folks?

[@ellipszia]

Faith in humanity restored! Finally a group of people who are not about to invent weapons and things that earn a lot of money but make humanity suffer. Kepp up the good work

[@yantrika]

Great movie! Great wheelchair! Great work!

[@scewo_official]

Louis Voellmy Thanks! This means a lot!

[@shivalwolf]

Very impressive work. Out of curiosity how does it handle going down stairs?

[@Honeywell888]

I guess the other way around...

[@cryptoqueen5962]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@mistresssuccubus2176]

It handles going down stairs very well. Just like going up. You go in reverse to line up with the stairs and start going up. To go down the stairs its similar. Except your facing the stairs when you line up. And then you start slinding down once you've moved foward enough.

[@philiq18]

Now this is a "step" in the right direction! Well done.

[@GeorgeBonez]

AWESOME! When I first saw this vid I thought I was going to see another one of those stupid kind of Segway wheelchair type things but this thing actually ROCKS! I walk just fine and I still want one!

[@TheDarp95]

Tremendous. I didn't think it was possible. Feel proud.

[@KeanosMagicHat1]

This is really fantastic - well done, I hope this technology makes it to production!

[@carolhackett6010]

"AWESOME" and no matter what, there will always be those who complain, in this case that its too slow, but for those who need wheelchairs to get around this is truly awesome and gives them the freedom to go wherever they want without having to ask someone to help or bypass areas where there are stairs. So for those finding fault pull your heads in and imagine if this were you - grow up and be grateful for your limbs.

[@pantyflash]

Like, even if you're orthopaedically challenged and/or your spine is hosed, you can get around with this totally awesome machine. It could also have wonderful autonomous and robotics applications. Way to go, babe!

[@ColinRichardson]

I'm not in a wheelchair, but I feel better knowing if something really bad does happen, there are cool solutions on the horizon to help.

[@leonteflorinel8808]

Amazing ! A wonderful idea and concept ! Good job, guys ! And thank you for caring for the others !

[@mistresssuccubus2176]

It can go up and down stairs. Has a lift feature. Head lights and a tail light. 20 miles per charge and top speed of 6 MPH. This thing is freaking amazing.

[@McGuire2778]

I've seem some great designs for new wheelchairs, and this one has just jumped straight to my top three for its class. As always some chairs are better at some things than others, and there just isn't a chair out there that can "do it all" But this chair is pushing the envelope in that regard. It would be nice to see a more integrated stair claiming operation where the chair maintains level seating through the whole duration on its own while you just hold control to send it up or down. Also being able to go up or down just a little faster would be nice. Not too much for safety sake, but faster than it did in the video. Keep up the awesome work.

[@robertbutler8004]

That stair lift chair is brilliant!!

[@FinanzenimGriff]

Mega! Unfassbar was ihr da geschaffen habt! Danke 🙏

[@Narainseshadri1947]

Great idea - fantastic discovery and will be very helpful to all those who are not able to walk God bless the inventor

[@garyhein2605]

Great design and execution

[@keepercoach]

Well done: Congrats from Canada

[@scewo_official]

Paul Nesbitt Thanks a lot! from Switzerland ^.^

[@fatenhappy1]

Now that's certainly people who have been listening !!

[@aanddone4747]

Amazing. Great product! (if not just an idea/prototype still). And remember people, things can & do get improved/fixed (if/when necessary)

[@TheiLame]

10 hours later.. he finally made it!

[@bibleandblues6634]

Great invention, as are many of the other innovative chairs. In this one the speed of stair climbing isn't much issue. I've always thought it would be great for the person to be able to go up facing forward. Maybe I just haven't seen it yet. My thoughts are on the active balance system when not climbing. While cool, it is a battery sucker. My wife's chair goes for 2 or 3 normal days between charges depending on our activity level. I would imagine the extra drain would change your battery management.

[@Guthix198]

Really needed that drone footage of him on the stairs thanks

[@scewo_official]

Hi there, what do you need it for?

[@marikarebicsek9498]

I think I would be so scared to use this!!!!! You really got to be able to let go of all your fears and trust this chair!!!! But once you do, oh boy does your horizon expand. I want one of those!!!!

[@tamragarner2211]

This is pretty awesome! The other climbing wheelchairs I've seen, bump the person around while climbing each step. This has a nice smooth ride. Could it also be used as a stander?

[@eliabecs7]

UoU 🙏👏👏 I Need This! My wheelchair never climbed stairs... Congratulations, God Bless your life greatly! [SCALEVO] P.S.: I'm from Brazil, come here also sleep about 40 million disabled people, invest here too!

[@mikfly]

This is just incredible. Good work!

[@miguelmontalban459]

I like this a lot. As a paraplegic who has been bound to my wheelchair for pretty much my entire life, it's a great thing you're doing. Although, I'm the type who prefers pushing myself with my arms (as in an ordinary wheelchair), when not needing the stair climbing ability. Your chair (in the video) doesn't seem to support that, or does it? What i'd really like to see is the option to be able to manually push myself whenever possible, when not needing the stair climbing ability. Maybe if you could modify the hind wheels of the chair for that to happen?

[@KandiKlover]

The music reminds me of alternative rock and 2006. Ahh good times. Remember Circuit City?

[@benlandry5]

That is EPIC! You guys will be rich, and it will help soo many disabled people in need. :)

[@scewo_official]

Ben Landry Thanks for this compliment! This really means a lot! But our primary goal is not to make money but to participate at the Cybathlon challenge in 2016!

[@smatef]

Scalevo Good Luck with that!

[@scewo_official]

The rollout video from our Scalevo stair climber project.

[@MarchaudWittouck0707]

Scalevo Great work!

[@MarkWestscoutingmaniac]

Scalevo Awesome job!

[@TomPvPGaming]

+Scalevo Question for you. What about Down Stairs. everyone is happy to go UPSTAIRS but what about going back down?

[@CarlosGomesMartinho]

ahhMyHeadahh it can go downstairs as well. The same mechanism... We will post another video showing that in the near future. :)

[@fatenhappy1]

+Carlos Gomes Martinho MAs a user, much more trepidation would face a user going down than up ...

[@onesimpleclik]

this is great! really love the look of it, can't wait to see future iterations of it :)

[@morgancalvi6675]

Function over fashion onesimpleclik...function over fashion. What if there were something on fire? Just burn up???

[@MadBastich]

that is absolutely awesome. i can only assume that the next step is to get it to climb faster than the speed of smell.

[@scatamingo4068]

That big red button in his lap is the "Oh shit eject my ass outta here button!"

[@JodsLife1]

it only takes a half hour to climb up ten stairs ! good concept tho X)

[@scewo_official]

Jod Life We can climb stairs currently at a rate of 0.2 step / second. We are now increasing the speed "step by step" to get up to 1 step / second. To get faster than that we would need to use bigger motors.

[@JodsLife1]

oic...i can only suspect @ the pace tech is advancing it will only get better and faster and lighter

[@Raijin1506]

Jod Life still better than not being able to at all.

[@JodsLife1]

Raijin1506 all i'm saying is the price performance most likely doesnt equal out, as most new tech is. Nothing is wrong with it, but was jus commenting on it, they make it look amazing and ground breaking. Which is it dont get me wrong, but is it efficient even for someone middle class in a wheel chair...i doubt it. It is very cool and i can't wait to see future models.

[@ownlywon]

Jod Life well with how health care is now a days someone can get a motorized wheelchair fairly easily, and i dont think this model is anymore advanced, just added innovations, but nothing technological mind blowing from a normal motorized wheelchair, so i would assume that once they streamline this for production, or sell to some corporation, most anyone would be able to afford one through insurance, and or since we have to pay for everyones health costs even people with no disabilities like obesity can get one with little or no cost to them.

[@my3nieces724]

There's a KZbin channel called squirmy and Grubs and Shane would benefit so much from a chair like this .just watched a video with them visiting Poland and Shane's fiance had to push his heavy wheelchair up stairs.

[@Hesam0000]

I've had the same design (Segway+Tank Track) in my mind for a while as the best idea sofar short of Exoskeleton.

[@Karkenou]

Excellent concept, groundbreaking to say the least, but it takes quite a long time to go up one step let alone ten. Hopefully people can build off of this innovation and create something which can go a bit faster.

[@Alpenanimation]

Amazing product idea, nice video which shows the benefits! Great!

[@idontsignin]

I need 1 of those chairs, stairs and to an extent pavements are awful when you're in a wheelchair. You see the world differently.

[@victortsoi052000]

i actually want one of these just for fun and that tail light looks sick

[@voidigris]

This was made 7 years ago. So, I’d bet on the tech available towards making something like this is much better quality now.

[@Mewi987]

Mark my words this machine will enslave mankind

[@OodldoodlNoodlesocks]

My firs thought was of the treads eventually wearing out with constant use and eventually that is going to cause a staircase accident.

[@mradaChris]

Very cool!

[@carolyntainter3036]

OMG I WANT ONE ! I have Cerebral Palsy and use an electric wheelchair (I call it the beast due to it always breaking down). I hope in the future that MEDICARE and MEDI CAL (California state insurance) will pay for it !

[@ladiesmand217]

I would support it if you guys made a Kickstarter campaign!

[@RSTI191]

Some serious engineering there. I can’t imagine the man hours spent on design, trial and error.

[@omdafedo3124]

Good work

[@MarkWestscoutingmaniac]

Rollout video for the Scalevo stair climber project.

[@EvilDeadMansChest]

awesome idea! Big respect to you all :)

[@ogKiruke]

Great start, but diverting power from the treads/main wheels when the other is in use would, I assume, save a lot of power and make the chair capable of going a lot further. Also, programming the machine to be able to make it's own automatic adjustments when it's going up the stairs and the chair needs to be kept level will make it much easier and faster for the user since there's no manual input. Lastly, programming modes like 'lift' would make raising the chair to get a better view easier as well. Instead of the user manually lifting front, then back, they could press one command and the chair could lift both simultaneously.

[@samsonoduor9433]

This is too cool guys, great job.

[@LinJensen46]

there's a lot to like about this chair , but coming down stairs is a bit concerning , my Sister had Cancer and when she got her chair she didn't know to lean back in it going down her ramp, If I hadn't been behind her and grabbed the chair she would have taken a really painful fall face forward, I do like the tilt back feature that does help and I didn't think it was taking so terribly long to climb the stairs , it's not going to be the same as walking up them, it's a wheel chair and I like it

[@stephenharris6948]

this chair will only change a tiny bit of wheelchair living for those wealthy enough to purchase it. it will not open doors or fit into a tiny bathroom stall or drive a car or change attitudes. huge obstacles still exist.

[@mitchd8337]

It's like that Spongebob show wgere he skips school,"Mrs. Puff, I brought back the bathroom key"

[@surinderkamra2209]

Very nice

[@whoami2uall511]

Great gadgets for people in wheel chairs. Slightly slow though. I understand it is safer but the speed can be uped a bit more. Saying that, many places have access to wheel chairs now. As it is law for big shopping or business places to have proper access made available.

[@dickcastle]

Haha yeah right. Are you in a wheelchair? I am, it may be a law but I can tell u, at least half the places I go it's still extremely difficult to get around. Because the excuse is they're older than the law... It's frustrating.

[@Relaxingmusic-zm8ef]

Great product, inspirational actor

[@hawken347]

Looks like a lot of manual controls that he used to climb those stairs though.. Do you plan to make a lot of the functions autodetect and control themselves? Otherwise, this is so awesome :D Good job!

[@thegoprogroup3420]

Cool wheelchair

[@joesmith942]

OK. So you've conquered stairs. Now we will just have to install moats.

[@averagejoe1858]

Development of this machine put several people in wheel chairs.

[@SIVANILJMAROMBA]

Magnífico, de imensa utilidade. Parabéns!

[@TheDontbeEvil]

if the tracks slip up, it can seriously harm the rider. I suggest you implement a failsafe "foot" that doesn't use much power in case an mechanical failure occur.

[@lytken]

this is a really great idea, how long can you drive in km. on one charge and can you fit a basket to it for when you go shopping, and what about a little white back light so you can see where you go when backing when it is dark, what about a gyro cup holder so you too can have a cup of coffee on the move, sorry my brain is working so fast with ideas :) crutches holders ?? but i did notices that the tracks are really really close to the backside, and yes they fit the stairs in the film but there are many 100 of kind of stairs, how dos it do on other stairs. what if when engage the tracks they would move just 5 cm further out to the back and maybe have a incline so it can gab hold on higher steps

[@wuhazet]

totalny niewypał !!!

[@atifpathan1]

Brilliant Design!!

[@hotice158]

Brilliant concept and work! Are you still working on the project? What would be the approx cost of one wheelchair?

[@MrDrop11]

I imagine if it's successful, future versions will be faster and have things like sensors to auto level and auto climb stairs instead of manual operation only.

[@Fanilsed]

Greatt!! in 10 years time, people who are not disable will start purchasing this awesome chair and will get fat soon enough, just like in the movie Wall-E.

[@meryllamistoso]

if apple or big tech companies care, it wouldn’t be hard for them to make something fast automatic easy and convenient

[@herawalters5037]

wow this is amazing ...

[@rlb2k1]

Freakin’ IMPRESSIVE!!!!

[@andy4an]

well done. accessibility is getting pretty good in the USA. not taking anything away from that, but seems like having something like this in Japan (with no disabilities acts controlling construction) would be especially amazing. How is accessibility in Europe?

[@C4ndleJ4ck]

I think what's needed is a saddle for one of those Darpa donkeys.

[@naetuir]

What kind of horrible person downvotes this awesomeness??

[@deltafox52]

In everyday use the lasers beacons on both sides would be fully scratched in a few months. Interresting concept but too much tech when you need at first to go around. At first if Permobil or Levo & co could make a system so the seat is in automatic way bend at front or back to compensate slopes it would be a great improvement in life. Also no wheelchair has any system of folding critical devices like the controler or top of the backrest or the armrest so you can safely take it in commercial aircrafts luggage holder. And no systeme exist so we can use the smartphone with a cap on the wheelchair joystick... But it's anyway a good thing to improve wheelchair tech, so thanks !

[@ThatOldBiddy]

There needs to be more ideas and more changes created for wheelchairs. I love this. I just didnt like the rider having to be backwards to go up the stairs. I think there is are potential problems anytime you have a human moving backwards through a space. Good work though... love a lot about this design.