There has always been a demand for stair climbing wheelchairs and now with recent technological advances, this demand will finally be met. The race to design a stair climbing wheelchair started in the 1950s when the National Inventors Council offered a $5000 reward to anyone who could design a wheelchair that could climb stairs. Since then, there have been many concepts and designs but all have failed to be certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The second stair climbing wheelchair was called the iBOT 3000 Mobility System; it was created by Dean Kamen (who also invented the Segway) and with its unique design, it is able to climb stairs, and elevate users to standing height.

Past stair climbing wheelchairs have also been successful in climbing stairs safely but they did not meet standards and therefore were not authorized the major reason being that they could not switch from climbing to four wheel drive. One of the first models used spokes that projected out of the rims of the wheelchair when the chair was tilted to climb up stairs. Another wheelchair's design was based on how goats and spiders maneuver over rough terrain.

Using two robotic arms that were connected to the wheelchair, the arms could lift the wheelchair over steps up to 12 inches in height. This model may have been certified but currently it can only support a user that weighs less than 60 pounds. But this wheelchair has potential as future developments include increase efficiency with the robotic arms allowing them to grasp objects, open doors and even help mount and dismount the user. These models contained many flaws and therefore never took off as a successful wheelchair.

The iBOT is truly a great step into the future of wheelchairs. It is the first wheelchair that can climb stairs and shift back to four-wheel drive. Using, a computerized system of sensors and gyroscopes, the iBOT can cross over uneven surfaces, climb stairs, and even elevate. Instead of having two large wheels in the back and 2 smaller wheels in the front, the iBOT has four wheels of the same size.

The way the iBOT works is the user leans back (when back wheels are facing the steps) while holding the hand rail and the front wheels will rotate over the back wheels to take a step up, then the back wheels will rotate over the front wheels to take another step and this is repeated until the user reaches the top, and to go down steps the opposite is done.

Also this chair has the ability to elevate to reach high places and to have eye-level conversations by balancing on the two back wheels. As you can see this stair climbing wheelchair is truly revolutionary, and it would greatly benefit many wheelchair users.

Before the FDA approved the iBOT, they tested the wheelchairs on 18 wheelchair users for two weeks. During these two weeks, the users compared the iBOT to their regular wheelchairs through daily situations. When it came to climbing stairs, 12 of the users could climb stairs independently while the rest used an assistant while in regular wheelchairs, none could climb stairs.

During the test, three people fell out of the iBOT and two people fell out of their regular wheelchairs, though none of these falls were serious, thus proving that the iBOT was safe. Although the iBOT was approved there were a few regulations created, such as the wheelchair must be prescribed by a doctor and then must be tested to see if the person is capable of controlling the iBOT.

It is evident that the iBOT is going to be a great success even with its regulations. With its versatility and efficiently, this stair climbing wheelchair will help many wheelchair users. Though there are a few minor drawbacks to the wheelchair. These being that the user must weigh less than 250 pounds, and they must be able to control one arm. Also the iBOT is not designed for children yet. Still the iBOT is an excellent wheelchair because of its stair climbing and elevation abilities, and it only costs $29,000 which is less then some wheelchair models.