FREEWHEEL Project

FreeWheel – “Lifecycle-reconfigurable Smart Mobility Platform to enable autonomous and cost-effective personalized solutions for social inclusion of disabled and elderly while leveraging Additive Manufacturing technologies” is a research project financed under the European Union research and innovation funding programme “Horizon 2020”, within the topic “New technologies and life cycle management for reconfigurable and reusable customised products”  (call Factories of the Future FoF 10-2017)

FreeWheel promotes social inclusion of disabled and elderly people through a urban mobility solution consisting of:

• a unit integrating an autonomous “smart active” module,
• multiple custom interfaces and
• a mobility app.

The project exploits the high degree of flexibility of design and production of components allowed by additive manufacturing technologies to deliver a mobility unit that adds a motorisation to manual wheelchairs and/or a fully customised wheelchair. These support the users in moving around more easily and autonomously. The unit can be rented for temporary use e.g. in shopping malls and in tourist areas, and it is adapted to the surrounding environment so to allow the user to enjoy fully the location. An app supports the use of this unit through facilities for booking it, controlling it and even planning the journey, amongst other features. A co-creation approach ensures that the features of the solution are designed with the needs and expectations of the end users in mind.