Sponsor:

Cook Technologies, Inc.

Research Team:

Emory Zimmers, Mike Rinkunas, John R. Spletzer

Universities Involved:

Lehigh University

Start Date:

11/01/05

End Date:

11/30/06

Summary:

The objective of this project is to provide a cost-efficient and safe transportation solution to enable independent mobility for wheelchair users. This solution would reduce the potential of injuries and death that exists for current mobility solutions, such as van conversions. It would also eliminate drastic, permanent, and expensive vehicle modifications associated with van conversions.
In today’s volatile business environment, it is a paramount importance for companies to be able to anticipate uncertainties and implement rapid changes in their operations. The focus of our work is on leveraging the supplier-buyer relationship to create an agile supply chain, so that companies can achieve greater responsiveness to the variability in their business. Under this new paradigm, sourcing and purchasing practices receive increased recognition as revenue drivers which determine the profitability, and ultimately the survival, of a firm. Companies operating in rapidly changing environments need a new set of tools and methodologies to dynamically choose suppliers in order to maintain their competitive advantage. The goal of this research is to address this need by developing a comprehensive framework for configuring the supply chain in a volatile environment. We will investigate how, and on which criteria, supplier-buyer relationships should be established in order to master unpredictable changes as soon as they emerge in the business. Our analysis will rely on a Quality Function Deployment (QFD)-based model and an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and will include advanced stochastic optimization techniques.
The project delivered an advanced system for a single user that that enables paraplegics to drive motor vehicles with modifications to standard vehicles. This involved design and engineering of sensor/system robotics for autonomous navigation of the wheelchair system.