Blogpost: AdvenChair Rolls Boldly Into Adventure With Off-Road Wheelchair Design

Published on the Ansys Blog
Ansys.com

BY TIM PALUCKA

Featured on the Ansys website

The Ansys Startup Program celebrates helping more than 1000 companies.

Geoff Babb is an outdoor adventurer. He has enjoyed mountain biking, skiing and hiking in rugged terrain with friends over the years. He wasn’t about to let a stroke in 2005 stop him from enjoying his passions, or even a second stroke 12 years later. By then he was the founder of a company called The Onward Project, maker of the AdvenChair, dedicated to inspiring and enabling those with mobility challenges to visit wild places. The company’s motto: Roll Boldly.

Geoff Babb, inventor of the AdvenChair, and family after his first brain-stem stroke

You can see Geoff doing just that in a YouTube video featuring him in a prototype of the AdvenChair in the woods, on the beach and in the snow, accompanied by a group of friends who push and pull the AdvenChair using a set of handlebars in back and ropes in front.

“We’re sometimes asked about an electric-assist version, but honestly we're not really thinking about it at this stage, primarily because we see the group dynamics of teamwork as a key tenet of the AdvenChair,” Babb says. "AdvenChairing is a team sport.” 

On the Road to an Off-Road Wheelchair Design

When the idea of hiking in a wheelchair came to him in 2006, it quickly became apparent that the standard wheelchair, designed for floors in buildings and paved roads outside, was not up to the challenge of more rugged surfaces.

“I wanted to make a chair that would benefit not only me but so many people who want to be outside,” Geoff says. “We tinkered with a standard wheelchair but that didn't work.” The stresses and strains on the chair would be too great, and the jolts experienced by the rider too jarring.

The AdvenChair 1.0 early all-terrain wheelchair prototype at the Grand Canyon. Photo credit: Pat Addabbo

So Geoff turned to his mountain biking experience and began developing ideas for what would become the AdvenChair. It would be a three-wheeler — two large wheels in back for strength and stability and a smaller wheel out front for balance and maneuverability. It would incorporate the materials and components of a mountain bike that suit the terrain, including inner tire suspension, disc brakes and a lightweight but strong frame.

In 2017 Jack Arnold, an engineer with experience in product development, sheet metal and machinery, joined Geoff’s group. Together they decided it was time to scrap the early designs and build something new from the ground up. 

Engineering a New Wheelchair Design

Jack brought an engineer’s knowledge of simulation to the group. Before the first design review meeting, he used an engineering software package to simulate the stresses and strains on a prototype design that could hold a 250-pound rider with a safety factor of 3, for a total load of 750 pounds. He knew they wouldn’t end up building this design, but he wanted to get the ideas flowing, and to let the team know that this was going to be an iterative process.

Left to Right: Dale Neubauer, Geoff and Yvonne Babb and Jack Arnold

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“I wanted to go into the meeting with the ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling of knowing that the structure was sound from the start,” Jack says. “You really need to use simulation upfront so you know that your first prototype is at least in the ballpark.”

A fortunate series of events brought Ansys simulations into the picture. In 2018, a reporter at a local radio station did a story on Geoff and the AdvenChair team. “After that story aired, we had a number of people reach out to us to provide service, and Ansys was one of them,” Geoff says. “Next thing I knew Ansys was offering to help us with the analysis. I asked Jack what he thought and he said we definitely should follow up on that.”

A structural analysis of the AdvenChair frame in Ansys Discovery

Soon Jack was working with Ansys Discovery as part of the Ansys Startup Program to verify the frame simulation he had done with the other software package. He ran several different simulations with the seat in different positions and with different loadings to see how these changes affected the frame.

“I quickly learned that it was so much easier to make design tweaks in Discovery in Explore mode and get a solution almost instantly to see that you are trending in the right direction,” Jack says. “I really love the brilliant use of onboard memory on video cards to make nearly instant updates possible.”

The Advenchair all terrain wheelchair is equipped with various adjustment mechanisms to accommodate riders of varying sizes and weights.

But what he loves the most about Discovery is the generative design feature. “Watching it iterate, removing material in the unstressed areas and then suggesting a final shape —that is really cool,” Jack says. “Our current AdvenChair is heavier than our design goal, so we are going to use generative design to eliminate material where it’s not needed. That will reduce the weight and translate into material and cost savings as well.”

Heading to Market

Somewhere along the way the team came up with what Geoff calls the “Swiss Army Knife” approach. This meant adding adjustability and scalability to the AdvenChair, so it could be used throughout a person’s lifetime for various purposes. An important feature of this approach is that the front wheel is removable so the AdvenChair can be used as a standard wheelchair to go into buildings, fit under tables and allow transfers in and out of vehicles.

Much of what Jack and the design team have been doing these last two years has been working on the adjustability of components. They want the rider to be able to adjust the seat position fore and aft, to adjust the inclination angle of the seat, and to set the footrest in the most comfortable position. Moving these components around in Discovery and seeing how they change the loads on the chair and its performance was easy.

Isaac Shannon takes to the trails, thanks to the off road hiking wheelchair, AdvenChair.

“With Discovery, we've designed a scalable platform that can handle anyone from a small child to an adult,” Jack says. “This includes three different seat bucket sizes that can be swapped out when needed. The idea is that a family can buy this for a child and it can be a lifetime chair for them.”

In the bigger scheme of things, Geoff sees the AdvenChair as a way of helping people of all ages with different abilities enjoy the outdoors again.

“We want to reach out to veterans to get their buddies out on the trail using teamwork,” he says. “Children with cerebral palsy. Elderly folks who just can't easily hike anymore and people with Parkinson's disease who want to visit their favorite lake again.” He talks about how he received a call from a man a few weeks ago whose daughter was in hospice and wanted to revisit her favorite spots on the family farm one last time. He loaned them an AdvenChair and she got her wish, a week before she passed.

In this way and many others, the AdvenChair team is already fulfilling its dream of helping people who love the wild outdoors to hit the trails throughout their lifetimes, no matter what challenges life throws at them. They are currently taking orders until Feb. 15, 2021 for the first production run of AdvenChairs, with plans to ship their first 10 units in the second quarter of 2021. In the meantime, they are continuing to use Ansys Discovery to reduce the overall weight of the AdvenChair, particularly in the seat, and are developing a lighter-duty, less expensive urban version, for those who find the city wild enough.

Download a free trial of Discovery to see how it can accelerate your design process.

Video: AdvenChair design team partners with Ansys to reduce weight and cut costs.

Geoff Babb (seated) on the Rim Rock Trail in the AdvenChair at Smith Rock State Park, Oregon

PRODUCED BY ANSYS IN COLLABORATION
WITH THE ONWARD PROJECT LLC

Inspired by Emily Cureton’s story about AdvenChair for National Public Radio last December, Ansys, a global leader in engineering design technology, reached out and offered their help and expertise. By joining the Ansys Startup Program, we were able to utilize their Discovery design simulation software in the development process, which enabled us to better understand the effect of our design decisions and make adjustments during our prototype testing. 

We also had the pleasure of working with Curt Chan and Adam Morley on a video that illustrates how both teams benefitted from the partnership. It’s an incredible piece of work and we hope you will enjoy it. Thank you, Ansys!

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Video: Hiking Wheelchair Opens Outdoor Lifestyle to People Living with Physical Disabilities

Issac Shannon (seated) tries out the AdvenChair in Bend, Oregon

FEATURED ON THE DENVER CHANNEL
by Elizabeth Ruiz
E.W. Scripps Company National News 

It’s a crisp September morning. A good time to go for a hike. For 21-year-old Isaac Shannon, that means strapping into the AdvenChair.

“I’m in a wheelchair because I have a mitochondrial disease, which is a progressive genetic disorder that affects pretty much everything in my body and makes me extremely tired and fatigued easily,” Shannon said.

For the majority of his life, Shannon hasn’t been able to go on hikes. This is now his fourth time using the AdvenChair.

“It’s rejuvenating to be outside, especially as a person with a disability because these resources are not exactly the most accessible,” Shannon said. “So when there is a tool that allows a person to be able to experience life in the most average way possible, I think it’s healing, and it’s nice to be out in nature where you’re not around people.”

The AdvenChair is an adaptive, human-powered wheelchair designed to help people with physical disabilities get outside. Jack Arnold is the engineer who helped develop the chair.

“It’s an all-terrain wheelchair. With a small team of people, you can go backpacking,” Arnold said.

One person pushes from behind, and another – adequately referred to as a mule -- pulls from the front. Up to five people can help remove the chair with nylon straps and carabiners on more challenging trails.

“There are so many people with physical challenges out there in the world,” Arnold said. “We take it for granted; we can get up and go for a hike. And everybody with physical challenges, they don’t want to be stuck indoors either. They want to get out.”

The man who inspired and created the idea of the AdvenChair, Geoff Babb, was supposed to be on the trail with us, but a medical emergency rushed him to the hospital instead. Geoff is no stranger to the hospital. This visit is due to a complication with a pump in his abdomen that helps control muscle spasms. But as he puts it, it’s not his first rodeo.

“I had my first stroke on November 10th, 2005,” Geoff said.

Twelve years later, on the same date, Geoff had a second stroke. Now he lives with quadriparesis, which means he experiences weakness in all four limbs. His favorite medicine is nature.

“For me, to start to heal, I had to be in my place of comfort and strength, which was being outside,” Geoff said.

Outside is where he met his wife, Yvonne.

“I mean, we weren’t born outside, but we’re just outdoorsy people,” Yvonne said with a laugh.

Both worked as plant resource specialists. Geoff used to be a fire incident commander. As his primary caretaker, Yvonne’s life has been influenced by the AdvenChair as much as Geoff’s has.

“To me, it’s a safe way to go out to the woods with Jeff and continue our life in an adventurous way,” Yvonne said.

They can go on trips to the beach, or in the snow and trek through somewhat tricky trails.

“Takes five or six people we’re like ‘ohhh we can do this,’” Yvonne said.

Yvonne says Geoff is the most driven person she’s ever known. Geoff says his motivation is his desire to contribute to the world positively.

“I have a purpose when I get up, and that purpose is to help people experience wild places eventually,” Geoff said.

It’s a goal he’s already achieved on a small scale with other friends in Oregon.

“I think this is one of the coolest things that I’ve gotten to experience in my life because I’ve been able to hike again without feeling tired or having any pain,” Shannon said.

Geoff hopes to continue his legacy allowing more people to hike outside.

“I want to be able to see other people in his chair… on the Camino, or climbing the Great Wall of China,” Yvonne said.

No matter what life throws at him, Geoff says he will continue rolling boldly off the beaten path.

Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

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The Evolution of an Adventure Wheelchair

Geoff Babb (seated) at Smith Rock State Park, Oregon (Photo: SmithRock.com)

FEATURED IN OUTSIDE ONLINE
by Emily Penningon

AdvenChair 2.0, coming out late this year, will allow more people to experience more wilderness

The road to building a good all-terrain wheelchair is littered with broken axles, gravel road rash, and uncomfortable ergonomics; just ask Geoff Babb. “The most significant mishaps are also the best things that could happen during development,” he says. An inventor on the cutting edge of wheelchair technology, Babb is the creator of the AdvenChair, a rugged, outdoor-friendly roller that uses bi-ski and mountain-bike technology to enable people with mobility issues and their gang of helpers to navigate rocky, steep trails. (It can also be operated solely by the chair’s user for short distances.)

A lifelong outdoor enthusiast and BLM fire ecologist, Babb loved backpacking, climbing, and mountain biking near his hometown of Bend, Oregon, until his life took an abrupt turn when he suffered a near fatal brain-stem stroke at age 48. “While I was in rehab, it became obvious that I wasn’t going to walk and that I would be in a wheelchair,” he says. Getting back outdoors was a top priority for him, his wife, Yvonne, and their two boys, but none of the chairs they saw on the market fit the bill.

Without enough arm strength to push himself, he accumulated a laundry list of solutions that would allow helpers to aid him in an ergonomic way. “We also needed parts that were easily accessible, versatility to maneuver outdoors and indoors, and a chair that was durable enough to go on rougher or steeper trails,” Babb says. Nothing checked off all the boxes, so they developed a solution on their own.

The AdvenChair 1.0 was little more than a standard-issue wheelchair with knobby tires (instead of thinner, pavement-friendly ones) and an added front wheel for increased mobility when rolling over curbs and rocks. After testing the chair on trails all over Smith Rock State Park, Crater Lake, and Mount Rainier, Babb and his family decided to put it through the ringer on a 2016 trip to Grand Canyon National Park. 

With a team of three to four people (lovingly referred to as “mules”) helping push and pull the chair, they set off from the Bright Angel Trailhead on the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, carefully navigating the wheels over hundreds of bumps and drainage channels.

Just two miles from the trailhead, an axle snapped. Babb and his team were forced to retreat back to the parking lot. “I see this mishap as a gift, as it forced us to rethink our design,” he says. “Within a week, we were back in my garage finding new ways to make it better.”

Babb and his team navigating a descent at Smith Rock (Photo: SmithRock.com)

Enter the AdvenChair 2.0, Babb’s latest creation. With the help of helicopter mechanic Dave Neubauer, CAD designer Jack Arnold, and Yvonne’s steering and ergonomic expertise, Babb fully redesigned his initial concept.

“The frame of the AdvenChair 2.0 is more durable and capable of overcoming obstacles like logs, stream crossings, rocks, and roots,” Babb says. The team worked to make the 20-inch front wheel more all-terrain friendly, with an added shock and included ease-of-use features like 180-millimeter disk-brake rotors, handlebar-mounted brakes, and a durable 6061 T6 aluminum frame with lifting and towing points for the chair’s pushers and pullers. The new model weighs 60 pounds and can fit into the back seat of most sedans once the front wheel is removed. “AdvenChair 2.0 is the whole enchilada,” Babb says.

This foray into the world of all-terrain wheelchairs is not without competition. From the tanklike, motorized Action Trackchair ($12,000) to the sporty, push-powered Grit Freedom Chair ($3,000) and the popular Freewheel ($600), people with disabilities have more options than ever when it comes to choosing an adventure-ready rig.

What really sets the AdvenChair apart, however, is its combined use of bi-ski and mountain-bike technology, which allows a team of one to four pushers and pullers to maneuver the chair across the toughest trails out there with little to no help from the rider. There are 16 points on the chair to push, pull, or lift. Babb adopted the waist belt and fiberglass towing poles often used on a pulk sled so that a friend can help pull the chair from the front, while another helper can use the adjustable, wide handlebars to push the chair and access the disc brakes from the back.

Much of the chair is constructed with standard-issue bike parts, like grippy 27.5-inch wheels and tires, allowing users to repair and maintain the chair themselves. Not a do-it-yourselfer? Just bring the chair into your local bike shop for a tune-up. Its padded bucket seat is also easily removed, a boon for a child user, who can grow with the AdvenChair and only ever need to purchase a new, larger seat to be fitted on the chair, greatly extending its life span.

AdvenChair will begin taking orders late this year, shipping the first units next year for a cost of about $10,000 per chair. After that, Babb has a Grand Canyon redux planned, and with the 2.0’s robust new features, I’d say the odds are with him.

“We believe that everyone, regardless of physical ability, should have the opportunity to visit wild places,” Babb says. “Instead of needing a landscape that’s been adapted to wheelchairs, people can now have a chair that adapts to the landscape.”

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AdvenChair Gives New Purpose to Geoff Babb

Blog post published on Stroke FORWARD

BY MARCIA MORAN

Featured on the StrokeFORWARD.com website

The scent of pine trees pricks your nose as you sniff the mountain air. The adrenaline rushes as you figure out the best way to navigate a steep decline. The aromas, sights, sounds, and the joy of being human brings joy to your face as you look toward the sun. Mt. Rainier, Crater Lake, or different park adventure cries, “Pick me, pick me next!”

But what happens if you are suddenly stuck in a wheelchair and are told you will never walk again? Are your days of adventure over? A few days ago I would have said, “Yes.” I would have been wrong.

Geoff Babb has a passion for the outdoors. He gets his energy from being out in the wilds. When a brain stem stroke in 2005 left him in a wheelchair, he decided that it was just one more obstacle that he would have to overcome. He didn’t have his legs underneath him to walk, but he did have wheels. Part of the problem was that the wheels of a regular wheelchair weren’t tough enough to take him where he wanted to roll. So he decided to figure out a way to upgrade so that he had an AdvenChair.

“It is so empowering for me to be outside in nature feeling the elements and being part of a team that got me there. It is being out in the elements and part of the process.”

-Geoff Babb

Things to Solve

The standard wheelchair did not perform well on off-road surfaces. It wasn’t long before Geoff figured out that he needed something different. Like some stroke survivors, he lost arm mobility that he couldn't get back. Somebody needed to push or pull him, typically a task his wife, Yvonne Babb, took gratefully.

Geoff and Yvonne started building what eventually became the AdvenChair with friend Dale Neubauer. They added mountain bike wheels (and eventually handlebars) to give the driver more control over where to guide the wheelchair. In 2008, a FreeWheel was added to the front to allow the chair to glide over rocks and roots without being stuck by the four-inch caster wheels that come standard on wheelchairs. In essence, the AdvenChair can now turn into a three-wheeler.

It was 2016 when they hit the Grand Canyon and expected a phenomenal hike to the bottom. The hike ended abruptly going down when the AdvenChair broke the axel sheath. Geoff got back with the help of his friends. (I can hear grunting at this point.) He had to begin working on a new design.

The Second Time Around

Twelve years (to the day) after his first stroke, he had stroke number two. The second one scared him. He had face droop and vertigo, which he hadn't had before. Geoff quickly understood that he had been there before. Although he lost some additional mobility in his arms, he couldn't wait to hit the trail again with his team.

AdvenChairing is a team sport with as few as two people or as many as six. It takes a lot of coordination and communication as mountaineering and rafting do.

“I feel as if I am part of the team,” explains Geoff. “The process of evaluating where we are, the footing and safety issues. I help the [team] problem solve. It’s definitely a physical work out for me because being jostled side-to-side takes a lot of core strength for me. It’s really good for me because I feel like I am really part of the strenuous activity. It’s definitely a way that I am participating, not just being a passenger.”

New Meaning

I was intrigued by this business. Geoff has figured out a way to make the wheelchair able to go off-road and comfortable at the same time. If you want one, go to AdvenChair for details. Geoff also plans to make it available to bike and equipment rental shops, nature centers, parks, tour companies, adaptive recreation programs, outdoor schools, and veteran’s groups in the future. If you have a friend or family member who has had a stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, dementia, or a kid who has special needs, the AdvenChair might be for you.

AdvenChair has given new meaning to Geoff Babb and his friends because he can enjoy the outdoors once again. I think it created meaning in a different way as well. Geoff has demonstrated that you are not the disease, and he will sell the AdvenChair to those who need it.

(Sniff) Ahh. Can you smell the pine air?

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Note: The AdvenChair is now on sale. Go here for more details and to order this all-terrain wheelchair with options and accessories.

Specs for the AdvenChair show how different this product is.