7th May 2024
This client has a Rollz Motion wheelchair and, for medical reasons, needs to have her legs horizontal. However, this wheelchair does not have an option for leg supports to be attached.
I obtained some standard leg supports and designed and built a custom attachment mechanism to fit them to the wheelchair. These can readily be removed and fitted and now the client can use her wheelchair again to go into her garden or visit outside places.
13th March 2024
A client needed help with sitting to standing from their sofa. Raising the sofa alone was not sufficient as he needed something to press down on.
15th February 2024
Our client is registered blind and has an induction hob that he would like to use. He asked us to make some guides to allow him to locate the various touch buttons and also to locate the pans on the correct places above the induction elements.
21st July 2023
20th October 2022
The challenge was to make an add-on part that would fix securely to the existing doorknob and allow our client to turn it easily. We decided some sort of winged shape (something like a clockwork toy or clock key) would probably do.
Can anyone explain why such small slippery doorknobs are fitted to doors expressly intended to be used by elderly clients ?
7th August 2022
Our client has limited use of his hands and so found it impossible to press the smooth, slightly recessed buttons on the controller for his Drive DeVilbiss motorised bed. He only needed to use the top four buttons himself but wanted the others accessible for his carers to use.
2nd March 2022
The challenge was to think of a way of allowing the client to call his carer at night without the baby alarm constantly transmitting. My initial idea was to use a baby alarm with voice activation so the client would have to call out sufficiently loudly to trigger the baby alarm. The client considered that setting the exact sound level would be tricky and there would be no indication that it had triggered.
I then suggested using a battery powered radio doorbell which generally have many chimes and are quite loud but I was not sure whether the client would be able to find and press the button in the dark. The client thought that in principle this was a good idea but that it would need a bigger button and, ideally, a hanging hook so it could be fixed conveniently next to his bed.
7th December 2021
The challenge was to find a way of making very light cutlery items with thin grippy handles, with the fork and spoon both being angled.
5th December 2021
The client has some mobility issues and had not used his bed for some time because he could not easily and quickly locate his bedside light if he needed to get up during the night. He did not want to have to sleep with the main room light on.
The challenge was to build a bedside light with a good level of brightness that also looked reasonable in his bedroom. He wanted to be able to turn on the light before attempting to operate the electric bed control and then get out of the bed. This would preferably be via a switch that was on a cable that could be placed on the bed next to him.
During my first visit I also recognised that being able to turn on the lamp when entering the room would avoid going backwards and forwards round the room switching lights on and off.
31st August 2021
The client has a Volker 2080 electric powered bed and has been able to get hold of replacement plug in hand controllers in the past, these do not last too long it seems. He has had to adapt these using a large wad of bandage stuck to the back with surgical tape and was then able to move the controller in a way that allowed him to pick it up from the surface of his bed and then manipulate it so that he could press the two buttons he uses (up and down) with his chin. More recently the controller design has been changed by the manufacturer to use lower profile buttons and he cannot use these in the same way. His last working controller was getting unreliable and, if it stopped working altogether, he would need help to adjust the bed. He called Remap for help.
16th August 2021
The challenge with this project was not to invent a new device but to recreate as closely as possible an existing one whilst making it possible to 3D print the parts and include a currently available razor. The original device used injection moulded parts and these were permanently glued together. I needed to make the replacement in a way that could be modified if necessary and parts replaced if they were damaged.
The original device, completely obsolete.
18th June 2020
The client is young and active and had childhood polio. He uses commercially available aluminium elbow crutches but they fail at the length adjusters after about three months. He asked if remap could provide something sturdier and longer lasting.
18th June 2020
The client has CP and limited vision. She desperately want to walk but need equipment to help her and boost her confidence. There is a particular need to help her get used to climbing steps in preparation for her attending school.
18th June 2020
The client has CP and needs help to gain confidence to walk without his wheeled walker.
10th September 2019
The client had difficulty picking up certain objects, such as a television remote control or house DECT phone, using the standard reacher as they have a weakened grip and the standard reacher was only able to hold the sides of the object.
9th September 2019
The challenge was to design a device that allowed our client to operate her brand new Kirton Products Duo Major/Minor electric powered recliner chair by herself. The controller supplied with the chair has soft touch buttons that are hard to locate without sight and require very little pressure or movement, all of which are difficult for our client. It is also on a coiled springy cable and there is nowhere (apart from the back) to attach this to the chair where it will stay put.
The hand controller must be easily accessible so that the battery in the chair can be charged overnight. The client wants the device on the right hand side of the chair which means that the hand controller must be removed from it (because the charging socket is on its left hand side).
I was very keen not to modify the chair in any way as it was very expensive and any modifications might invalidate the warranty or safety status.
4th September 2019
Our client had difficulty picking up and maintaining grip on their mobile phone. As a consequence, the phone would often drop to the floor and they were unable to retrieve it from their electric wheelchair.
11th April 2019
The challenge was to find the best positions for the iPad and the paper. We experimented and found that an A4 sheet needed to be 13 inches away from the iPad camera and also, the camera is in a corner of the iPad making the iPad quite offset from the paper. The first idea of having the paper flat and the iPad above it was dismissed because the whole device would be very tall and it would be difficult to see the iPad’s screen.
10th April 2019
The invitation to do this came with a link to an existing project on the “Instructables” website:
There was also a video showing it in operation:
I sent the video link to the client and, having watched it, he thought it would be helpful and asked me to go ahead.
Having an existing design to copy was most useful and, fortunately, both the guitar tuner and Arduino used in the original design were still available so the major part of the challenge was trying to find a neater method of assembly.
5th February 2019
Daniel enjoys cooking and wanted to become more independent by making his own meals. However, his mobility and vision problems limited his ability to do this. He could prepare his food on a flat surface, but was unable to transfer it safely to and from the oven.
24th December 2018
The client was introduced to our panel by her OT, she is blind and has exaggerated hand movements and wants to press a button
to initiate a pre-recorded spoken message as her speech is not always clear.
This will improve her ability to communicate especially if a close family member is not available.
6th February 2018
Client is a 9 years old with joint problems, they cannot bend down to pick things up and has weakness in wrists and hands. They have tried 2 different sorts of “pick up sticks”, neither useful as mechanical system offers too much resistance.
So I decided it would have to be some sort of electro-mechanical system. After a little thought, I decided a Robot gripper (used by amateur builders of robot arms) would be a suitable solution. This was sourced from the internet. Next was a suitable power source, I decided this should be easy to maintain so I pressed into service a USB power pack as this would be easy for the client to charge.
The whole assembly was made from plastic electric conduit, and after fitting two switches (one to open, one to close) with a suitable circuit the unit was up and running.
The client used it first time with no problem and was able to pick up a pencil with ease and later a heavy pepper grinder.
See also job BK2018/89.
7th December 2017
This client has difficulty pressing the small buttons on a recliner chair control box, and too easily knocks it off the chair arm (where it has been placed by a carer) when trying to use it when the carer is not immediately available. The client has sometimes tried to stand up in the chair whilst it is reclined which is dangerous and is damaging the chair.
The idea of somehow attaching the control box to the arm of the chair had already been discounted because the client is not able to accurately press one or other of the buttons. It was proposed that the control box could be fitted into a mechanism where the movement of the two buttons would be exaggerated and isolated by two levers and actuator paddles. This was drawn up in a 3D design tool and a drawing sent to the OT for consideration. The OT thought that it would be worth making this into a real device and trying it out, only doing this would confirm if it would be useful to the client.
The recliner chair has a pocket on the side and an MDF board was fitted into this and held to the chair with a strap. A wooden enclosure holds the control box and two levers are fitted that allow large movements of two paddles to press on the control box’s buttons. The first version was shown to the client’s carer and some small changes were suggested, including painting the paddles red and green. The device was completed and then installed on a third visit, planned so the OT could attend as well.
During this visit the client’s carer and the OT worked with him for a little while to see if he could manage to control the chair, he did manage to make it work although some more practice was going to be necessary. The device was left with the client and a follow-up meeting arranged. Unfortunately, before this could take place, the OT contacted me to explain that the chair had become damaged beyond repair and so the device was redundant. When a new chair has been procured we can revisit and see what might be needed to reinstate it.
An improved design has been considered in the meantime where a single paddle is used to press the buttons. This will require a more complex mechanism that changes the direction of the lever’s movement by 90 degrees but should be simpler for the client to use.
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Ian Mercer, REMAP South Herts Panel
17th March 2017
Updated 25.04.2017 – the locked nuts M6 coach bolt proved to be inadequately strong and came loose after some use. A modified version using a hex M6 spacer and washers soldered to it was made and supplied to the client.
This is the design for a window opener for three cranked window handles (2 right hand and one left hand) on horizontal opening fanlight windows that were out of reach of the client because they were across the other side of a corner bath in one case and above a dressing table for the other two.
This is the right hand handle in the bathroom.
Original design with M6 coach bolts:
New design with M6 x 50 mm Hex spacer and two M6 x 20mm diameter washers, one drilled for M2.5 screw and one bent.
The assembly was designed in SolidWorks 3D and made from wood and aluminium from the 2D drawings generated from the 3D. It could be 3D printed in ABS.
The plastic pipe was 21.5 mm nominal diameter – manufacturers products vary so have to use the matching T piece. The pipe was about 1.15 m long.
Fixings: M6 x 75mm coach bolt with 4 nuts and 3 shake-proof washers.
M4 x 25mm pan head screw, nut and shake-proof washer to fix the block to the aluminium bar.
M4 x 30mm pan head screw, nut and shake-proof washer to fix the tube to the ring.
18 mm diameter dowel from B&Q the full length of the pipe was inserted inside the main tube to stiffen it.
The handle was a T fitting and two 75mm lengths of pipe glued in with ABS/PVC cement
The handle was fitted perpendicular to the opener ring; glued with ABS/PVC cement.
The exact position of the block on its arm has to be adjusted to work for the angle of the main pipe. It is then tightly locked by the M6 nuts and shake-proof washers either side and a locknut was also added on the outside for added security.
This design can be adapted for different handles. Different blocks may be required without the side retaining walls etc.
This is the modified design:
This is the original 3D model and the 2D drawings:
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