Reducing the Price of the iBot

As I mentioned in my previous article, the iBot is an exceptionally helpful automatic wheel-chair, allowing the user to deftly climb up stairs and stand as tall as normal people. Unfortunately, its cost is extremely high, reaching nearly $20,000. The company Johnson & Johnson has stopped producing iBots because its expenditure on the product was higher than its revenue. Not many disabilities have bought the product because of its unusually high price. Disabled people do not have enough money because they cannot work in careers. Therefore, demanding such a high price for an indispensable wheel-chair robot is outrageous. Fortunately, there are several ways to reduce the price of the iBot.

To begin with, the price of the iBot can be reduced by convincing the world's largest companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Apple, to help pay for an research and engineering team for the iBot. Up until now, one company, Johnson & Johnson, has paid for the research, resulting in a large expenditure. On the other hand, if several major companies cooperate to manage a large research team of scientists, the expenditure for each company drops significantly and the public image of those philantrhopic companies would improve.

Second, the iBot could be redisgned and remade, but this time considering the price of the new product. The team of researchers should use conventional technology in producing the motor, wheels, frame, and seat of the iBot. All four of these components in the original iBot were made by using cutting-edge and avant-garde technology. By using conventional technology, the price of the iBot would significantly drop since the technology being used is already widespread in many other products.
Finally, major companies, governments, and non-profit organizations can pay for a fraction of the cost of the iBot. Handicaps are unable to earn money because of their lack of control over their bodies. Therefore, these wealthy corporations could help disabilities by giving money to disabilities so that they just need to pay for a certain amount of the original cost.

In conclusion, we can lower the cost of the iBot by convincing large companies to pay for a major research team, redesign and remake the iBot with considering the new price, and non-profit organizations and governments can pay for a certain fraction of the cost, making the price disabilities need to pay lower.

iBot Wheel-Chair

Wheel Chairs are continuing to improve in innovative ways. In the near future, scholars predict that wheel chairs could become mobile homes or offices for disabled people. One example of an innovative wheelchair is the iBot. The main problem of wheelchairs is that they can only travel flat, stable terrain. Steps are a nightmare for handicaps in wheelchairs. Fortunately, the iBot can easily climb stairs. The wheel-chair has three sets of wheels, two big, outer sets with one small, inner pair. The two large outer wheels can rotate and stack up on each other to let the handicap stand taller and move up stairs. The video below shows the way the iBot works on stairs.



Unfortunately, the iBot is not on sale for now because it was to expensive. However, I hope that innovative wheelchairs of the future will cost a reasonable price so that it can help a greater number of handicaps.