Dignified Motors Makes Driving Accessible withgroovEPIC

创新工程师转向Opto 22，为Epic Chevy Silverado升降机动力供电

The Challenge

What do you do if you own a beautiful truck but one day find yourself a wheelchair user? Chances are you’ve never considered that possibility, but answering that kind of question is what Dave Aitchison of Dignified Motors does every day.

Dave and his team specialize in vehicle conversions and accessories that meet a variety of accessibility needs. Their work improves the quality of life of all kinds of drivers, including veterans, the elderly, and families with special needs children.

As a mechanical engineer and a wheelchair user himself, Dave also sees the opportunity to introduce better technology to the mobility industry. For instance, typical accessible entry-exit systems like automatic ramps use limit switches that may lose their proper activation position over time and end up failing in problematic ways.

“Imagine that you aren’t able to get out of the vehicle on your own,” Dave says, ”because now the door limit switch doesn’t quite make its activation position. So the ramp just doesn’t deploy.

“I’ve been trapped in everything from a 1975 Chevy full-size van to a 2004 Toyota minivan.”

该观察结果导致有尊严的电动机寻找为更严格的环境和延长周期时间设计的技术。当需要升级雪佛兰Silverado的入境系统的客户接近时，他们与Opto 22联系。它以前已通过富有创造力但缓慢的轮椅升降机进行了修改。

In the Arizona heat, the slow speed wasn’t just an inconvenience, as Dave explains. “Temperature exposure is a risk for people with spinal cord injury. Two and a half minutes sitting in 115° F weather [waiting for your lift to deploy] is dangerous.”

The Solution

Dave replaced the slow-moving DC actuators with a properly sized hydraulic system and installed an Opto 22groovEPIC® edge programmable industrial control system that, in total, sped up the deploy time to 14 seconds.

groovEPIC controls the hydraulic valve and pump system and monitors system health and passenger safety using pressure transducer readings, door proximity sensors, and I/O checks for vehicle position and state.

例如，如果卡车不在公园里，EPIC将不会为电梯系统供电，从而防止驾驶时意外部署。

在这个有尊严的电机YouTube视频中查看DM的邪恶狂热的Silverado升级，显示了30秒以下的完整部署时间：

And here’s how it looks with a driver on board:

Next Conversion

Dignified Motors is working on a similar conversion for a quadriplegic veteran. They’ll raise the truck body and drop the floor to accommodate the additional height of the wheelchair and lift system. The truck will also be outfitted with drive-by-wire speed control, reduced effort power steering, and a tri-pin orthotic using a spinner knob bearing, giving the driver full control without requiring full grip strength or manual dexterity.

With EPIC’s embeddedgroov查看HMI服务器，Dave还能够使用其手机为客户提供与升降机系统的移动交互选择，他补充说，这是“对移动性行业的巨大便利性”。

When asked what else led him to choosegroovEPIC, Dave is quick to mention that “Opto 22 has a history going all the way back to the SSR. That's the kind of equipment and technology that you want to partner with when you are looking at potentially life-critical systems.”

Opto 22 encourages you to think about how you can put your engineering skills to work to improve the life of someone near you. And let us know how we can help.

About Dignified Motors

A big thanks to Dave and his team for the opportunity to share their story. Do you have a project for them?

Learn more about Dignified Motors at dignifiedmotors.com or contact Dave Aitchison:
电话：1-800-DIG-MOTO
Email: info@dignifiedmotors.com

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