Wheelchair-Bound Man Tackles Suspected Child Molester

Posted by John Farrier in Odd News on October 2, 2009 at 3:52 pm

Cameron Aulner is not a man inclined to let his disability limit him. While working his first day at the Comcast table at a Westminster, Colorado Wal-Mart, he intercepted a suspected child molester, tackled him, and held him down until police arrvied:

The affidavit says one witness, Chris Bevin, saw the suspect, 34-year-old Kevin Salyers, run from the toy department. Bevin told investigating officers that he began to run after Salyers, and shouted “stop that man!” But no one was able to stop him.

That’s when a man working at the Comcast table at the front of the store went into action. Even more amazing, the Comcast employee, 22-year-old Cameron Aulner was in a wheel chair. Aulner pulled in front of the suspect, and grabbed his t-shirt. Aulner says he wound up out of his wheel chair, and on top of the suspect who was on the ground.

Link via Say Uncle | Image: Fox News

 
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Robot Converts from Wheeled to Tracked Vehicle

Posted by John Farrier in Science & Tech, Video Clips on September 28, 2009 at 8:19 am


(YouTube Link)

The Galileo Robot has retractable wheels within its rear wheels that extend on command, expanding the hub of the wheel into a tank track. This allows the vehicle to have the advantages of a tracked vehicle when off-road, but the advantages of a wheeled vehicle when on a smooth surface. One application that the developer, Galileo Mobility Instruments, has already developed is a wheelchair that allows users to climb and descend stairs.

Company Website via Make Magazine

 
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Mind-Controlled Wheelchair

Posted by Alex in Gadget, Medicine on July 4, 2009 at 4:45 pm

You may not have the psionic power of X-Men’s Professor X, but Carmaker Toyota and research lab RIKEN have created the closest thing in real life: a wheelchair that can be controlled by thought.

The device scans brain waves through sensors in a cap. In 125 thousandths of a second, the brain-controlled wheelchair can turn a thought into a command to turn the chair left or right or to move it forward. To stop, however, the user must puff out his or her cheek, activating a sensor placed there. [...]

To best pilot the wheelchair, don’t try too hard, suggested RIKEN scientist Andrzej Cichocki, leader of the project.

"It works best if you imagine playing the piano with either hand while turning the wheelchair or, for instance, jogging, to [make the chair] move forward," Cichocki said. "After two to four weeks of training, the accuracy is nearly perfect and it becomes effortless."

Link

 
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Team Hoyt

Posted by Queuebot in Everything Else on March 21, 2009 at 2:00 am


[YouTube - Link]


Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-son team who have run 60 marathons (25 of them the Boston Marathon), 6 Ironman Triathlons (composed of 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 116 mile bike ride and then a 26 mile maraton), and other races for a total of nearly 1000 events.

Rick has cerebral palsy, so his dad pushes him in a wheelchair and pulls him in a raft through the water … Watch this clip for a fascinating look at Team Hoyt.

– via jaredstanley

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by j_red.

 
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