IEEE Spectrum May, 2015 - 13

WHIll

(A few telecom companies serving
climbers have photo voltaic installations for their own needs.) Consulting
meteorological databases, the team
determined that-given the maximum
summer and minimum winter temperatures, plus days of cloud cover and
snow-an array of 16 photovoltaic solar
panels would be able to produce the
needed 200 W. A bank of Exide LMXT
2-volt batteries, which are designed for
use with solar arrays, is also needed to
keep the digester running at night and
on overcast days. The whole thing will
be topped off with a shelter, which the
volunteer group Architects Without Borders has offered to design.
Por ter a nd t he ot her eng i neers
recently submitted a 27-page "Basis
of Design" for peer review to engineers not involved in the project. In
February, it was returned with the
reviewers' stamp of approval. The Nepalese government, residents of Gorak
Shep, and the climbing community
have all responded enthusiastically
as well. Now the biogas team is working on estimating the price-certainly
in the thousands of dollars, the engineers say-of building and installing the
digester, which will be funded entirely
by donations. Construction is tentatively slated for 2016. "Our intent is to
build one, get it up and running, train
local operators-and then the horses
leave town," Porter says. "But we will
have people in Seattle and Kathmandu
who can provide technical support for
the life of the system."
If successful, the project could be
replicated in other locations that are
too cold for traditional digesters. "In
places like Alaska they have an expensive solution-they helicopter the waste
out-but that's not available in a lot of
developing countries where there aren't
even treatment plants they can helicopter it to," Porter says. "If we can bring
this technical solution to bear on a universal problem, then hey, that's great."
-r acHel n u Wer

JAPANESE
STARTUP REINVENTS
THE WHEELCHAIR
Whill says its personal mobility device will appeal
to tech-obsessed consumers. but will it sell?
A Japanese startup founded by
WhILL to ruLe: A wheelchair
designed with techies in mind
former automotive engineers wants
can make tight maneuvers.
to turn the wheelchair into an accessory
for the tech savvy. Their company, Whill,
is building a "personal mobility device" that it says is easier and more
comfortable to use than conventional power wheelchairs. Whill's chair,
called the Model A, features an advanced drive system that lets it take
tight turns and ride on rough terrain. It also has a minimalist, sleek
design that makes it look like it came from a science fiction movie.
This month, Whill plans to start selling the Model A in Japan and the
United States (initially only in California, for US $9,500). The company
is betting on what might seem like a strange thing: that the global market for wheelchairs will grow at a fast pace, and that users will demand
more capable-and better-looking-offerings. Some demographic trends
support this: The number of people 65 and older is expected to triple
by 2050 to reach 1.5 billion, or about one in every six people on the

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum May, 2015