Technology with style
PROTOTYPE ONE | PROTOTYPE TWO | PROTOTYPE THREE
Kangan Roo (now referred to as Kangaroo ®)
Lightweight and sporty (currently under 44kg total, including batteries)
17 October 2006
To Whom It May Concern:
Review of The Kaganroo wheelchair.
The Kaganroo wheelchair offers a conceptually new approach to the pursuit of creating a light-weight power unit that can be attached to a manual wheelchair. This power unit not only converts a standard manual wheelchair into a power unit, it also allows the user to adjust the position of the seating unit relative to the drive wheels. This allows the user the ability to adjust the performance and maneuverability of the wheelchair. Maneuverability equals that of most mid-wheel drives in tight confines. The adjustable wheel base allows the user to soften the ride by then lengthening the wheel base outdoors. The sliding/tilting seat also acts to improve a user's balance and stability while driving this power wheelchair.
Most power add on units ignore the problem of caster/fork assembly durability. The increased speeds and force of impact of the power unit typically causes damage to the caster assembly. Training of the user to incorporate the dynamic tilting feature further enhances the mobility of this power unit. The user is able to tilt the system backward to lift the front casters off the ground. A swiveling rear caster acts to maintain stability and lessen the blow on the front casters. This allows the user to operate this wheelchair comparable to a front wheel drive wheelchair. The climbing ability of this unit, as demonstrated on the video, was fairly impressive. The wheelchair also appeared very stable in the 3 wheel configuration.
Very unique design with numerous functional benefits.
David Kreutz, PT, ATP
Seating Clinic Coordinator
Shepherd Center
Atlanta , GA
David_Kreutz@shepherd.org
APTA Member
Member of the Clinician Task Force www.cliniciantaskforce.org