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This topic is provided for NewMars members who might wish to add to a collection of knowledge about mobility assistance devices for residents on Mars who suffer injury and need temporary mobility assistance, or long term residents who are healthy but frail, and who would appreciate modern powered mobility equipment. This topic comes about because I was asked to assist a neighbor whose powered wheelchair stopped working.
I was brought into the picture after a number (several) others had tried to help. The problem revealed itself immediately to me, because I had the tools and experience needed to disassemble part of the device.
I've offered to assist the manufacturer in improving both the product and customer service.
Mars Society is in the business of preparing for the Mars adventure, and we in NewMars are here to support the Mars Society as much as possible, given the nature of our web site software.
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This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members.
I'm hoping posts will provide knowledge about existing systems, or suggestions for future ones that might be needed in the somewhat unique environment of Mars.
Index:
Post #3 - description of one powered wheelchair design
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This post is reserved for description of a particular powered wheel chair design I "met" today.
There are many electric wheel chairs and mobility devices for sale and in use on Earth in 2026.
My purpose with this post is to attempt to describe the general nature of the device I "met" today.
The device was presented in a non-working condition and with a bit of sleuthing (and disassembly) I was able to identify the problem and correct it.
A long term solution is outside the scope of my support service, so there may be more to report at a later time.
I've notified the manufacturer of my willingness to report the nature of the problem, and to offer suggestions for improving the product, and for improving customer service. In this case, Customer Service made inappropriate guesses about the nature of the problem, at considerable expense to the company. The fault was a poor connection of the wiring. The design of the connection can be improved. In addition, the diagnostic procedure at Customer Service can be improved to include a simple check for that possible fault.
I am generally supportive of small business enterprise, and i was favorably impressed by the level of customer support provided.
There was nothing "wrong" with the equipment, but the fault that occurred was hidden by the enclosures that protect equipment.
The humans who design equipment for use on Mars will need to provide designs that can be diagnosed and repaired by personnel on site.
At present, there are NO humans on site, and it will be a while before there are any. Accordingly, equipment designed for Mars must be capable of diagnosis and repair by robots or by teleportation using robots as the on-site agents.
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