FREEDM PhD students Shokoufeh Valadkhani and Zhansen Akhmetov won $1,000 in scholarship funding for their technical poster presentation at the NCDOT Research and Innovation Symposium held in Raleigh on February 11 and 12. Led by Dr. Zejlko Pantic, the team has developed a prototype system to provide public charging infrastructure for power wheelchairs.

In the U.S., over 12% of the population experiences a mobility disability. Those restricted to electric wheelchairs (technically called Power Mobility Devices or PMDs), travel 73% less than an average American walks. This presents a huge barrier to social inclusion. Developing public charging infrastructure for PMDs is essential to enhancing mobility and promoting community engagement for this population.

The FREEDM team developed a universal charger for PMD batteries that uses Internet of Things (IoT) communication protocols for data acquisition and battery monitoring. The system is accessed through a mobile app that integrates GPS location and environmental factors to estimate energy consumption and assist in route planning.

“Our focus groups shared stories of being stranded that just sounded terrible,” said Shokou. “I’m really glad that NCDOT recognized the importance of what we’re doing. The money is nice, too!”