The Mechaddy
Vantage Realized is developing the Mechaddy, a universally-adaptable wheelchair accessory. By integrating levers, users can move themselves with a fraction of the effort required by conventional chairs and without the range limitations of electric ones.
The goal of the Mechaddy is to expand mobility, safety, and control for wheelchair users in an intuitive and cost-effective package.
About You
About You
First Name
JJ
Last Name
Tang
Facebook Profile
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Vantage Realized LLC
Organization Website
Organization Phone
Organization Address
Organization Country
United States, AZ
Country where this project is creating social impact
Is your organization a
For‐profit
How long has your organization been operating?
Less than a year
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Innovation
Entry Form title
The Mechaddy
What change do you want to bring to the world?
Vantage Realized is developing the Mechaddy, a universally-adaptable wheelchair accessory. By integrating levers, users can move themselves with a fraction of the effort required by conventional chairs and without the range limitations of electric ones.
The goal of the Mechaddy is to expand mobility, safety, and control for wheelchair users in an intuitive and cost-effective package.
What are the primary activities of your project?
Although we are still in the development stage, we hope to have a fully-functional prototype complete by December. At that point, we will begin to manufacture and sell the product in Arizona. In the meantime, the company has been developing relationships with wheelchair users through cold approaches as well as developing strategic partnerships with wheelchair associations, hospices, hospitals, and assisted-living care facilities. The final product will reflect the work of engineering with complete customer input.
What is innovative about your initiative? How is it a new contribution to the field?
The Mechaddy is an alternative to the cumbersome electric wheelchair and the archaic mechanical wheelchair. By using lever and gear systems, users exert a natural, ergonomic motion to move, limiting damage to joints and increasing mobility. We have also integrated safety features (most notably, a braking system) and have other plans to improve device performance on slopes.
Vantage Realized’s competitors hold a small market presence. The LeverDrive successfully moves with lever actuation. However, it has a single, limited speed, and only has a power-stroke when pressing the lever forward. While the Rio Mobility Pivot has multiple speeds, it is very expensive ($4000 for the add-on only), requires extensive modification to the frame, and is much wider than a conventional wheelchair. The Renegade Alpha 1 is sold as a fully assembled unit, forcing current wheelchair users to buy an additional wheelchair rather than retrofitting their current chair. The Mechaddy contains all the features of its direct competitors except for the option to use electric motors. It is an attachable retrofit, it uses levers to generate motion, it has multiple speed options and it uses disk brakes to stop. It also has a power stroke on both directions of lever travel. Most importantly, the Mechaddy achieves all of this below the prices of its competitors. These products also lack the market visibility necessary to make an impact; none of the people interviewed by Vantage Realized had ever heard of a lever-operated wheelchair before.
What stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Tell us about the community that you engage? eg. economic conditions, political structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with engagement efforts.
The Mechaddy is still in development, though the company has been in close contact with many wheelchair users to ensure that the end product will satisfy their needs. Vantage Realized plans to pilot the device locally in the Arizona market. It will then look to expand to different sectors of the US, and finally to international markets. Currently, we are focusing on older wheelchair users, as their needs are the most specific, though we hope to connect to chair-users of all ages and backgrounds.
Share the story of the founder and what inspired the founder to start this project
Vantage Realized was co-founded by its three current members, Gordon Freirich, JJ Tang, and Nicholas Gough. The project was inspired by and with Dana Gough, Nick's father, who is a long-time wheelchair user. Despite his handicap, he is very active, and found electric chairs too cumbersome and range-limited to satisfy his needs. On the other hand, the mechanical wheelchair wastes effort and damages limbs, making it an equally poor choice. The Mechaddy is our solution to the problem.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Please describe how your project has been successful and how that success is measured
Vantage Realized has successfully prototyped the first iteration of the Mechaddy. In this case, we measured our success by the response from testers. Although our proof-of-concept was successful, we want to expand our feature offering before taking the product to market to maximize the value to our consumers. We plan to complete the prototype and conduct preliminary testing by the end of 2011; this will put us in position to begin sales with the new year.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
Fewer than 100
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Currently, Vantage Realized consists entirely of the three founding members. When sales begin in January, we will hire three employees to manage the manufacturing process.
Task 1
Finish and test production-level prototype.
Task 2
Sell the first few products and monitor customer response.
Task 3
Hire additional employees to manage manufacturing.
Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Within 12 months, we hope to have a strong presence in Arizona. At this point, we will hire additional sales staff locally, and form a team in Southern California.
Task 1
Hire enough staff locally to manage sales and production without our involvement.
Task 2
Hire sales and manufacturing support in California.
Task 3
Begin selling the product in Southern California.
How will your project evolve over the next three years?
In three years, we plan to expand to additional markets. We would also like to apply to have the Mechaddy subsidized by Medicare, as with other wheelchair products. Additionally, we may investigate partnering with established firms to market and produce in markets in other parts of the United States.
Sustainability
What barriers might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
Vantage Realized does have competitors working to produce similar products, so we have worked to ensure our feature pallet is superior. To do this, we have maintained close ties to the wheelchair community to find out what their needs are, and what concerns they have about the product.
Tell us about your partnerships
We do not have formal partnerships at this point, though we do have contacts with the Veteran's Association, at Arizona State University, and in several prominent Arizona-based wheelchair associations.
Current annual budget of project, in US dollars
$10,001‐50,000
Explain your selections
Initially, the company funded all operations out-of-pocket. This year, however, we are operating using seed money from the Edson Entrepreneurial Initiative.
How do you plan to strengthen your project in the next three years?
Aside from searching for additional seed funding, we plan to hire additional employees to cover as large a market base as possible.
Challenges
Which barriers to health and well-being does your innovation address?
Please select up to three in order of relevancy to your project.
PRIMARY
Other (Specify Below)
SECONDARY
Limited access to preventative tools or resources
TERTIARY
Health behavior change
Please describe how your innovation specifically tackles the barriers listed above.
Our primary goal is to promote independence and mobility of wheelchair users. To do this, however, it is important that our product preserve their joints and encourage a healthy level and style of activity. Because our product is purely mechanical, users will exercise while using it, but will not risk damage to wrists, elbows, and other joints.
How are you growing the impact of your organization or initiative?
Please select up to three potential pathways in order of relevancy to you.
PRIMARY
Leveraged technology
SECONDARY
Grown geographic reach: Within host country
TERTIARY
Enhanced existing impact through addition of complementary services
Please describe which of your growth activities are current or planned for the immediate future.
The wheelchair itself is not a novel idea. We are simply improving upon an ancient design which has seen little revision over the years. Because of the recent push for electric systems in all sectors, many mechanical products have been allowed to stagnate. By leveraging modern technologies, we feel we can create a novel and useful product for wheelchair users.
Do you collaborate with any of the following: (Check all that apply)
Academia/universities.
If yes, how have these collaborations helped your innovation to succeed?
Through Arizona State University, we applied for and received a position in the Edson Entrepreneurial Initiative. Not only is the seed funding critical to our growth, the mentorships and connections provided by the program have been invaluable.
