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To reiterate, the ultimate goal of this project is to design a Tesla that is wheelchair accessible. In other words, we create a design that would allow Scott to enter the vehicle and have enough space to maneuver and lock in place. With this in mind, our final design for this project is to attach a two piece foldable ramp linked together by a chain to the side entrance of the Tesla, that would unfold after the wing door opens. The ramp is powered by a motor and gearbox that would rotate out the ramp to a certain point, then the effect of gravity will allow the ramp to drop to the floor. The ramp also has torsion springs to help the motor retract the ramp back into the car. Because there is a small step on the way into the car, we also designed a mini stationary ramp to help Scott enter the car once he gets past the foldable ramp. To create space in the car, we will remove the back seats and attach an EZ lock to the chassis to lock Scott in place once Scott enters the vehicle. Further tests and prototyping will be conducted to evaluate our design's performance.
CAD Animation of Scott's wheelchair entering Tesla Doorway
Operation of the fold out ramp mechanism is as follows:
Open rear driver side winged door of the Tesla
Ramp is engaged and extends out
Scott proceeds up ramp and into vehicle with wheelchair
Scott drives wheelchair forward and turns left into passenger seat area
Scott aligns drop pin below wheelchair with EZ lock docking base to secure into position
Ramp is retracted into its vertical folding position for storage
Close rear driver side winged door of the Tesla
Ready to drive
The extension and retraction process of the ramp has a duration of about 8 seconds each.
Key Components of Ramp
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50/50 Foldable Ramp
Allows for easy vertical storage and gives driver visibility since it does not block rear driver side window
Mini Stationary Ramp
The Tesla Model X has a slight lip on the doorway that could prove difficult for Scott's wheelchair to enter and exit the car, so our Team added a ramp to assist Scott. This will allow for smooth entry into the vehicle over doorway lip
3 Bar Linkage
Our ramp utilizes a 3 bar linkage formed between the doorway, top half of the ramp and arm marked here as bar 1,2 and 3. Since the 3 bar linkage forms a truss a slot is created in the arm to allow for movement
Torsion Spring
As mentioned in the home page, in order to improve our design over other industry designs we added a torsion spring which decreases the torque required by the motor as well as allows us to use a smaller less expensive motor.
Locking Mechanism
Our team also added a locking mechanism that securely locks the ramp into the vertical position and prevents the ramp from falling into the Tesla interior
Motor and Gear Box to Power Ramp
After running through our power analysis, which can be found in the front page, we picked out a motor that produces 23 lbin @161 RPM and a Gear Box which will help the motor output a new torque of 1380 lbin @2.68rpm allowing the ramp find the folding and unfolding process in 7.5 seconds.
Chain Linkage
Our team uses a chain linkage to help lower the second half of the ramp. When the motor is engaged and begins to lower the first half of the ramp the second half tugs on the chain helping it to lower until it is able to comfortably reach the ground.
Our Ramp Prototype helps to showcase all our components of the design in action
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