Word: wheelchairs
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...seeds of Ginger were planted at DEKA by what had previously been Kamen's best-known project: the IBOT wheelchair. Developed for and funded by Johnson & Johnson, the IBOT is Kamen's bid to "give the disabled the same kind of mobility the rest of us take for granted"--a six-wheel machine that goes up and down curbs, cruises effortlessly through sand or gravel, and even climbs stairs. More amazing still, the IBOT features something called standing mode, in which it rises up on its wheels and lifts its occupant to eye level while maintaining balance with such stability...
Kamen, whose invention credits include a portable drug-infusion pump, a compact dialysis machine and a wheelchair that can climb stairs, has refused to say another word on the subject. When pressed recently by a persistent journalist, he took her by the shoulders and asked, "What part of 'I'm not going to talk about this' don't you understand...
...vehicles." It's known that Kamen and his colleagues have been working for years on a clean, sealed-combustion Stirling engine that could run on any fuel, including hydrogen. The prevailing theory is that Ginger would combine Stirling technology with a stabilizing system pioneered in Kamen's stair-climbing wheelchair. (The wheelchair's code name, by the way, was Fred. Get it? Fred and Ginger.) The newest clues are the names of two websites registered by Kamen-controlled companies: mystirlingscooter.com and flywheels.com
What makes Gray special among relief workers is that he personally documents the delivery of the goods he collects, thereby assuring donors that their gifts are getting to the needy. Toting two cameras, Gray snaps pictures of aid recipients sitting in their new wheelchair or clutching their new Reeboks and sends them to the benefactors, sometimes from a laptop. "Nothing grabs givers like photos, receipts and other hard documentation," he explains. "Givers tend to remain generous when they really know their gifts are being received by the poor." That assurance has helped him build a stable of more than...
...have a lot of respect for Dean Kamen,” he said, adding, “He’s a creative guy who thinks for himself. He’s got a good track record and from an engineering point of view, the electric wheelchair that walks by itself is just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen...