Dog Quality is a leading provider of specialized senior dog assistance products that dramatically improve quality of life. They needed support developing a new product, a dog wheelchair that will help small-to-medium dogs with limited leg mobility move around freely. After they created an aluminum prototype with the support of BCIT MAKE+, the next step was to create a lighter version that wouldn’t put as much strain on the dog.
With extensive experience in transitioning products from metal to a composite material, we stepped in to assist with the design and fabrication of the carbon fibre prototype. We optimized the existing design for composite manufacturing and provided a cost-effective solution to bring the product to life. The wheelchair is also a modular design and can be easily adapted for larger dogs.
We had a local supplier waterjet cut the parts out of an off-the-shelf carbon sheet and then we assembled the first prototype carbon fibre dog wheelchair in our shop. This provided a balance between cost targets and product performance with a customized solution that was feasible for our client to continue production with.
The wheelchair is currently being trialed with Lily the pug with very paw-sitive reviews. We supported Dog Quality to adapt their design for composite manufacturing, which resulted in 50% weight savings and a functional prototype that they can use to further support product development.
