WHL / Wheelchair Race
OECU&R-Techs
Japan
About the Team
The Japanese team OECU&R-Techs is a joint project of Osaka Electro-Communication University (OECU), Osaka-Electro-Communication High-School, and R-Techs Co., Ltd., and was established in 2019. In preparation for the competition, the team took part in the CYBATHLON Series in 2019 and the CYBATHLON Global Edition in 2020. "We learned about various technologies that allow users to overcome barriers in everyday life and have developed our prototype accordingly. We are looking forward to participating in CYBATHLON 2024 with our pilot Toshiki. With his passion for cars and his open and active character, he is the perfect pilot.” says team manager Seonghee Jeong.
About the Pilot
“Electric mobility, cars and motorcycles are my passion, so the race at CYBATHLON is just the right challenge for me”, states Toshiki Ogura, “I saw videos from the last CYBATHLON and talked to team leader Seonghee Jeong, after that, I knew I want to be there! This is about development and progress.” The Japanese man had been working in the car trade, had an accident at work and has been in a wheelchair ever since. “With our RPWheel wheelchair, I want to overcome barriers that I am currently unable to overcome with a manual wheelchair, the type, I use in my daily life." says the Japanese from Hirakata and continues: “Going downstairs is a bit scary, quite different from when you are walking. But I love the challenge and I trust my team.”
About the Device
Their four-wheeled wheelchair, called RPwheel24, is the third prototype of RPwheel Series. It is equipped with two active omni-wheels in the front, two active wheels in the back, and two crawlers under the seat. It can negotiate rough terrain as well as narrow spaces. A compact and lightweight master-slave robot arm is mounted on the wheelchair to overcome daily barriers, such as picking up objects and opening doors. We started the development in 2022 as a preliminary prototype of RPwheel24 for the CYBATHLON 2024. In the future, our RPwheel should reach the level of a commercial wheelchair.