GRIT Helps the Disabled in Developing Countries Gain Mobility

Over 20 million people in developing countries need a wheelchair to access education and employment. However, standard wheelchairs are difficult to use on rough terrain and usually break on the uneven roads.

Originally one of the top four finalists for MassChallenge, a start-up accelerator in Boston, MA, SolidWorks customer Global Research Innovation & Technology (GRIT) has developed the Leveraged Freedom Chair with a unique drivetrain to help navigate the bumps. The lever drivetrain technology, built from bicycle parts which are easily accessible in any rural village in developing countries, enables users to travel over 80% faster than a standard wheelchair.

GRIT’s Leveraged Freedom Chair has evolved from its beginning as an MIT Mobility Lab project (collaborating with the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya) into an independent company partnering with various labs at MIT. The company is actively working to transform cutting-edge academic research into affordable, effective and appropriate technologies for the developing world.

Using SolidWorks Standard, GRIT has successfully built models and drawings of the LFC that they can easily share with the manufacturers in India. SolidWorks has allowed GRIT to design with sustainability, collaboration and innovation in mind thereby allowing people with disabilities to gain mobility and improve their lives.