University of South Florida Engineering students, through Rehab Ideas, have sold their first Mobili T Rover, a contraption they invented which allows wheelchair-bound customers to go off-roading from the comfort of their own chair.
The Mobili T Rover consists of a ramp and platform, with a set of rollers embedded in the platform able to use the powered wheels on the owners electric wheelchair to drive the front wheels on the Rover. The rear wheels follow up with trailing casters. This setup means the unpowered Rover uses the control and power system from the owners wheelchair to do the steering. The first owner is 23-year-old Michael Foradori from Mississippi, who was paralyzed in 2000 but has regained some key functions. He came back from his first test drive all grins and plans to hit the trails with his friends again. Rehab Ideas licenses the design from the students and is working on ten more of the little Rovers with a price tag of $7,495 a piece. [Fox Tampa, UPI]