Grad student creates automatic gear-shifting wheelchair...and more!

For mechanical science graduate student and IntelliWheels founder Scott Daigle, his big invention idea came as a result of observation.

“When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois, I saw all these students in wheelchairs navigating through our big campus,” Daigle said. “I said to myself, ‘You know, I could probably design something to make things easier for them.’”

And Daigle got to work – forming IntelliWheels, a company devoted to creating innovative products to assist the day-to-day functions of wheelchair users. The feature product of the company is IntelliWheels AGS, which implements automatic gear-shifting technology to manually propelled wheelchairs.

There are 2.2 million wheelchair users in the U.S., and more than 70 percent of them develop shoulder problems as a result of manually propelled wheelchairs. To combat this, Daigle has designed a prototype wheelchair that uses the gear-shifting technology similar to that of a bicycle. The shifting action reduces a considerable amount of shoulder strain on the user while making it easier to travel long distances and on tougher terrains.

When Daigle first began considering the possibilities of applying gear-shifting technology to manually propelled wheelchairs back in 2008, he realized that there was one big question he needed to answer – how would users shift gears?

“Obviously, people in wheelchairs can’t shift gears using their hands like people on bicycles can,” Daigle said. “That meant we had to figure out a way to get them to shift automatically.”

Daigle began working on his product during his final undergraduate semester in the spring of 2009 while working with Brian Lilly, a professor at the Technology Entrepreneur Center. He created his first prototype that summer before beginning his graduate courses in the fall.

The wheelchair is Daigle’s master’s thesis, and he now works with MechSE Professor Elizabeth Hsiao-Wecksler and Kinesiology and Community Health Professor Jacob Sosnoff,

“This has the potential to greatly impact the everyday life of the wheelchair-using community,” Sosnoff said.

His professors have noticed Daigle’s knack for invention. Hsiao-Wecksler described him as a “life-long inventor and entrepreneur, while Sosnoff likened the resourceful Daigle to a modern-day MacGyver.   

“Give him some bubble gum and two toilet paper rolls and he’ll make you a Boeing 747,” Sosnoff said.

When he was younger, Daigle had one dream – to invent a cool, new product, patent it, and then live off the royalties from it.

“Then I got to college and realized that that didn’t really happen,” Daigle said. “So I’ve taken the shift from being an inventor to being more of an entrepreneur – and I’m very proud to have done that. It’s a lot of fun.”

Daigle has added a few more inventions to the IntelliWheels repertoire. In addition to the IntelliWheels AGS wheelchair, the company also is developing products that will make wheelchair use in winter conditions easier and safer.

Caster Skis are mini-skis that are clipped on to the front wheels of the wheelchair, while Grip-N-Go is similar to snow chains, allowing for greater traction on snow and ice.

“Scott has ideas, but many students have great ideas. But what is unique about Scott is that he is determined to put these ideas to work and bring them to life,” Hsiao-Wecksler said. “He’s putting in the effort and developing the skill set to improve his ideas and make them real.

“It takes a special type of person to do this.”

And Daigle is looking forward to seeing his ideas turn into actual commercial products. He said he expects IntelliWheels to begin generating sales of its winter products before the upcoming winter season, and he hopes a working AGS product will hit the market soon after that.

Helping IntelliWheels along its path has been a handful of awards and grants, including the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Illinois Student Prize and a $6,000 prize from the Cozad New Venture competition.

None of this, Daigle said, would be possible without the support and resources of the University of Illinois. The University is helping IntelliWheels patent its core technology, as well as provide research opportunities and facilities, as well as access to funding such as the Lemelson and Cozad grants.

“I always say that the University of Illinois has always been our constant partner in this endeavor,” Daigle said. “The University of Illinois has really opened the door for us.”

And Daigle has impressed his professors with his desire to use his innovation to help ease the everyday lives of wheelchair users.

“It speaks volumes of Scott’s character that he is devoting his work to this community,” Sosnoff said. “He could be building whatever be wants, but he is choosing to help a community that has traditionally received minimal help.”

And with his hope that IntelliWheels turns into the “innovation center for the wheelchair community,” Daigle foresees himself being involved with the community for a long time.

“Part of the reason I love working on this is that’s just a feel-good thing,” Daigle said. “I feel lucky to be working on this. I get to go home every night and say this was a good day. We did a lot of good stuff. It makes me want to keep doing it.”
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Writer: Jay Lee, Engineering Communications Office.

If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.