A remotely controlled wheelchair developed by two Dublin students has been praised by Enable Ireland as a valuable training tool for disabled people.
The working chair delivers live video camera images over a mobile phone and was built using off-the-shelf components.
The impressive project is the work of Cian Hughes (13), and David O'Reilly-Healy (14), both second year students at Gonzaga College. Cian is the techno-wizard who developed the computer controlled systems and David is the marketing expert who studied how the chair might be used.
The computer-controlled device involved electronics, electrical work, software development and wireless communications and it worked as planned when demonstrated by the two. "I have been madly into computers since I was two," Cian admitted. Cian is already an Esat Young Scientist veteran. He won a prize last year.