Ruby Amir – Industrial Design

First prize, design contest “Creating a New Movement”
Graduated from the School of Industrial Design, Hadassah College, Jerusalem. A motorized tricycle for children with disabilities
A graduation project, School of Industrial Design, Hadassah College, Jerusalem, 2003, with “Tzora Active Systems Ltd.”
The project aims to design and develop a motorized tricycle that will accompany the child during physical rehabilitation treatments and afterwards, as an aid that would help the child achieve mobility, independence, and most of all – fun. The project aims to develop a product that will be seen as desirable to children, by treating children with disabilities first of all as children and not as invalids.
The Tricycle is based upon an Active Passive Trainer (APT) for upper and lower limb exercising that enables active and passive activity, according to the patient’s abilities.
The combination of the APT and the tricycle enables the children to ride the bicycle and suppresses pathological reflexes. Apart from the joy of physical activity, the children gain a treatment to improve their physical condition. The combination of the motor and a control system makes it possible to achieve various levels of effort and resistance that make the tricycle unique when compared to similar products.
The tricycle won the first prize in the Model Car Design Contest, “Creating a New Movement,” that was initiated by the Raz-Ram Foundation, under the aegis of the Association of Car Importers in Israel and the City of Nes-Tziona. The tricycle will be commercially manufactured by Tzora Active Systems, Ltd.