Fabrication of Electric Tricycle

The goal of the Electric Tricycle Project is to bring increased mobility to disabled persons in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Presently, hand-powered tricycles are used by many of the disabled in this community, but some current users of the hand-powered tricycles do not have the physical strength or coordination to propel themselves on the tricycle with their arms and hands. The aim of this project is to add an electric power train and control system to the current hand-powered tricycle to provide tricycle users with improved levels of mobility, facilitating freedom in travel and contribution to the community. The design objectives required a simple and affordable design for the power train and controls, a design that needed to be reliable, sustainable, and functional. In response to the request from an SIM missionary at the Handicap Center in Mahadaga, Burkina Faso, Dokimoi Ergatai (DE) committed to designing and supplying a kit to add electric motor power to the current tricycle design, and we, David Sandberg, Tolulope Ogundipe, and Daniel Dourte partnered with DE in their commitment. Our project was advised by Dr. Donald Pratt and Mr. John Meyer.