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Reviewing the iBOT 4000 Powerchair, its problems described below in detail.
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This was Andrew Spencely driving the iBOT 4000 by
remote control into his car
2. In the old
iBOT Powerchair test
I complained heavily about over
damped and delayed controls in normal mode. Well they
seem to have fixed that a
"bit" but it still has a few sluggishness issues:
And the driving wheels are still too far behind you. The
thing "feels" long and unwieldy compared to say my F55s
chair. There is still far too much weight on those over stressed,
small front castor wheels.
In particular in
normal mode, as you will have to use it most, it has too slow a
turn rate in both of its speed settings. (it has 2 speeds -
fast and slow!). Again it has turn
acceleration programmed in, as well as turn deceleration.
Not good!
This makes any accurate
high speed directional control a joke
as it delays the effect of the control you just gave it! You need to go slowly and carefully around doorways and
narrow passageways etc. Imagine what a car driver
would say if the steering wheel was connected via an elastic
band. Same effect. Result = unpredictable steering that
seems to have a mind of its own! Just WHY do all chair
manufacturers force this stupid arrangement on us? Its
simply dangerous. This is not an iBOT only
problem.
In my own
modded Powerchair
I have full accurate precise control because I removed ALL
TRACES of turn acceleration, and deceleration at all speeds.
Now my own chair goes exactly where I want, when I say so.
Not when IT decides to. What a relief... I have since reprogrammed around 30
other users chairs of all makes to do the same. Always
they are amazed how much more usable their powerchairs
became. This isn't just an iBOT issue. Other than you
cant reprogram an iBOT! So you are stuck with it.
The iBOT needs setting to
100% for turn acc and turn deceleration so that ALL that
turn acceleration is removed TOTALLY. Not just reduced. The chair needs to go where
the stick goes, and when the stick goes! NOT 2
seconds later, gradually gathering turn rate speed!
Just when exactly are wheelchair manufacturers going to
quite get
this??? I have been having this
battle for years now. Its like banging your head
against a brick wall.
Its not just an
iBOT issue ALL current powerchairs are like this, but at
least with them you can actually buy an "engineering"
programmer - not a end user programmer - (usually with a fight since they are all scared
you are going to get it wrong and hurt yourself) and fix it.
With the iBOT wheelchair, this isn't "allowed" by them. (big
brother!) and they wont allow you to do any work on the
chair or supply you any parts either. THEY insist on doing
all work, maintenance, etc. This last sentence is
the only thing stopping me buying one as we speak. because I
will never be happy without doing this stuff myself. I
cant rely on others because experience tells me that
everyone else is an idiot.
Also, it has its
forward acceleration set up to be very sluggish, which
would in the long term drive me crazy and its reverse speed
is about 0.5mph! I genuinely thought it was
broke! Apparently they will not change this
either, so you are stuck with it.. It makes manoeuvring
about quickly in tight spaces (pubs?) extremely tiring and
slow. Combined with accelerating steering it makes
manoeuvring very unpredictable and the controls very
mismatched. Not good enough.
Not what you
need for a chair that you will literally live in. One
last programming setup gripe, if you travel forwards at even low speeds, and
put the joystick in the centre position, it does not just
slow down as expected but tries to stop dead! The tyres squeal and
lock up! As you almost fall forwards off the seat. (Which is
too flat and needs to be tilted back further anyway)
This sudden stopping is extremely tiring if not dangerous! Trying to slow down
gently gets it oscillating between low power and stop!. You
then either need to actually stop, or go faster to stop it
doing it. Part of this problem is compounded by the loose wobbly
and frankly weak armrests! More later.
A chair should run on quite freely
decelerating gently, if you release the stick as your car or bike does
until YOU decide to brake. In most correctly set up
powerchairs, you get about 30 percent braking at "neutral"
on the joystick, so you don't permanently get thrown out
onto the road every time you release the stick!
It is something you can learn to drive around but its
uncomfortable and unnecessary.
Max 100 percent emergency
braking should occur only when you reverse the stick. on
purpose! But that said it IS better than before (old
chair) in
that the C of G seems to be moved back slightly I think, but not by
anything like enough. The chair does steer a little better than it did
do in the 3000 version..
Shame it takes so many years to sort out such a
basic simple thing.
By the time I am too old to use one they will have probably got it
almost right! Of course they could have just ask me so it
could be easily corrected right NOW but that would
be just too easy right.? As it is - again I
could not put up with it 24/7 It COULD easily be
fixed but they don't want to listen.
 3. Footplates
My opinion regarding the footrest / plate design is probably
going to divide users into two camps! But here goes:
I just don't get it! The original iBOT
Powerchair footplate design was excellent! Perfect,
small allowing better manoeuvrability in confined areas and
simple for transfers using a board. Nothing in the way,
nothing to remove, something to put your feet on while
transferring. At last a footplate designed by an engineer
rather than a committee of Occupational Therapists and
accountants!
It actually looked very similar to my own.
Here
Ideal So what did they do? They fitted
some of those god-awful "swing away" things instead!
Exactly the same type of thing as the ones that I had to CUT
OFF my
F55 Powerchair
on day one.
They are bulky and get in the way when trying to turn in
tight areas such as public toilets, as they give the chair
"corners" that need not be there. It means the
difference between having the ability to turn around in the
space and having to fight your way out in reverse unable to
control the door properly, for instance.
EVERY INCH COUNTS.
Also they are plain "health system" ugly. An exercise
in bracketry engineering by committee, students and a bunch
of non too bright users??? Adding weight and
unwanted complexity.
But another real problem is that they also have a big grey
plastic "handle" (picture above) on the top either side of your legs, that
sticks up above the seat cushion by about 40mm, or 1.5
inches. This is of course exactly where you need to
use a transfer board to go from say your bed, to chair or to
your drivers seat in a van.
So it hinders transfers by
paraplegics and quadriplegics almost completely.
What I want to know is just who advises these people???
Swing away footplates only suit old people that cant walk
very far and OT's and the like. Not exactly the sort of
person that will be wanting an iBOT 4000 is it? Maybe
they should offer the choice.
So to transfer at all you have to take away (lift it off) one "swing away"
footrest. You cant actually swing it away of course since you
are parked right next to your bed!
Now because of this, transfers are dangerous and very difficult because you
have the weight of your leg unsupported by any footplate.
Its weight
pulling you down and forwards. I had to get my carer to
lift my legs weight up to allow me to transfer with a
big struggle. Hardly a help in mobility is it!
Plus doing this solo would be almost impossible for me, with
these swing away footrests.
And when solo how do you manage to pick a dropped swing away
footrest up from the bedroom or van floor?
This Swing away
Footrest
change is a totally stupid change that limits both the
chairs manoeuvrability and my independence. For me to
use this chair I will need to modify the footplates and
remove the swing away ones as I did on my F55 Powerchair.
To me this is only a small job but "they" (Big brother) will
not allow it! Or sell me any parts to enable me to do
so. 0 out of 10 then.
Continued next
page!
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