Boy invents “stair-climbing booster” for his grandparents

The invention is equipped with a generator to provide power, and the internal structure can provide a traction force for the users and help them climbing. The force is adjustable so that the users can choose to climb stairs at suitable speeds.

"When I was in 6th Grade, I went to my grandparent’s house, as it’s an old community and there was no elevator inside the building, it has been extremely difficult for my grandparents to climb the stairs”, said Chen Ding. "At that time, I was wondering whether we could install equipment on these stairs without elevator, and make the elders climb up the stairs effortlessly”.

While entering middle school, Chen Ding shared the idea with his supervisor, Mr. Zhang. After listening carefully to Ding’s thoughts, Zhang considered it would be a very meaningful solution, and encouraged Ding to start working on the prototype under his guidance.

From the design, material selection, to 3D modelling, 3D printing, debugging & improvement, the whole process lasted about six months. Finally, in the middle of 2017, they’ve successfully built a booster device for stair-climbing, which is adaptable to the stair handrails.

Having won international awards for several times, Chen Ding’s “stair-climbing booster” won the Gold Award of Youth Group in the 32th INPEX Innovation Competition in Pittsburgh, US, in 2017.

"In fact, there are staircase handrails available on the market, but the price is as expensive as about 1500 EUR, however the performance is still not so good – some lack the driving force and other are not chargeable”, said Ding’s supervisor, Mr. Zhang.

Ding and Zhang’s ultimate goal is to create high-quality and cost affordable stair-climbing boosters, with the user’s freedom to change the driving force.

Adapted from: http://www.sohu.com/a/162531757_669483