Faaiz Arbab, an Electrical Engineering student from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has been awarded ‘Best Consumer Product Design Award for 2018’ by National Design Awards (NDA) for developing Pakistan’s first voice-operated smart wheelchair.
Currently studying MS Electrical Engineering at LUMS’s Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering, Faaiz believes in helping the disabled through technology which drove him to build the smart wheelchair called GOBEE. Faaiz is also the founder of Ayub Yaqoob Engineering Company (AYECo).
Specifications
GOBEE has the following specifications:
- Voice-operated
- 25km range
- Anti-rusting
- Water repellent
- Anti-sweat sofa seat
- Alloy rim wheels
- Remote control (100 feet range
- WiFi
- Bluetooth
Current Status
The smart wheelchairs are already being distributed in the Pakistani market by Faaiz and he aims to meet the International Health Regulations (IHR) regulations in a bid to export smart wheelchairs worldwide as well.
Faaiz aspires to incorporate Artificial Intelligence as well as an IP Camera in GOBEE to further enhance its capabilities.
Faaiz’s Story
Despite having won a number of competitions for designing an electric wheelchair, the young student gave up the hope for being incubated at National Incubation Center (NIC) at LUMS and decided to take up a regular job.
However, Faaiz soon decided to fulfill his dream of helping the disabled through technology and started working on the smart wheelchair all over again since he had sold all the hardware after signing up for the job. NIC didn’t take long to acknowledge the efforts of the young Electrical Engineer and awarded him enrollment in their incubation program.
GOBEE, being the first smart wheelchair developed in Pakistan, can help reduce imports and helping people rely on local and cheaper products. GOBEE costs about Rs. 100,000 and can recharge in 150 minutes while similar Chinese wheelchairs with far less features cost over Rs 150,000-Rs 250,000.
