[saulrh]

I cannot plug my phone in to charge it up myself obviously

Do you mind if I ask how much precision your conveyance of choice has? I've built docking stations for small mobile robots by mounting qi receiver pads [1] on the robot and compatible phone chargers [2] on walls where the robot can drive up to them to recharge. If you have enough precision you might be able to do the same thing, mount a pair of pads somewhere, run a cable from the pad to your phone, and dock them together to recharge.

Hmm. Not sure what to do if you don't have enough precision to dock a pair of charge pads like that. Maybe... put the one on the wall on a horizontal rail at the correct height and add a motor to run it back and forth until it starts charging? Maybe mount it on a small robot arm?

[1] https://smile.amazon.com/Wireless-Charging-Receiver-Qi-Stand... [2] https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MZPCC7X

[escapologybb]

Can you clarify what you mean by "conveyance of choice has" please?

Apple has a very very awesome accessibility software, it is seriously the best of the world and I have tried all in the decade since I became a full-time wheelchair driver. I use a chin controller to drive my chair, and I also use the chin controller to access Apple's Switch Control[1] using the Tecla Bluetooth bridge. As soon as funds permit I will be updating to the new Tecla as it is an amazing device, it really is the missing link.

This means that anything you can do on an iPhone I can do the same, it is not some subset of commands like most other mobile platforms. Once a new phone or any of the other Apple offerings is taken out of the box, I can get my designated hands to turn on the accessibility software and from then on I can do it all myself. There is literally no the company where this is true. As far as I know.

If I understand you correctly, it might be cool when my iPhone is connected to my wheelchair to be able to drive up to something while I am working and have it charge. It would have to be pretty robust as I will drive into it at some point!

[1]: https://gettecla.com/blogs/news/15538916-what-is-switch-cont... [2]: https://gettecla.com/

[saulrh]

Ah, sorry, I didn't know what kind of wheelchair or control scheme you were using so I didn't know whether you'd be able to align yourself precisely enough to get the thing to charge.

> If I understand you correctly, it might be cool when my iPhone is connected to my wheelchair to be able to drive up to something while I am working and have it charge. It would have to be pretty robust as I will drive into it at some point!

I think that that's doable, yes! Above, I linked the amazon page for a receiver pad that's designed to be mounted to cell phones to let them use wireless charging even if they don't have it built-in. If you mount one to your wheelchair somewhere and connect it to your phone, you should be able to mount a matching phone charger pad on your desk or the wall so you can drive up to it and your phone will charge as if you'd placed it on the pad. It might be a bit slow - it'll probably only charge at 5W, which looks like it'd take about 4 hours to fully charge an iPhone while it's in use - but it should work.

The hardware itself is pretty durable. The receivers are designed to be mounted underneath phone cases, so you can do the same thing to the one you mount on your wheelchair. The pads are designed to have phones tossed at them every afternoon for several years; I've never had one get even close to breaking. If it does have trouble, the wireless charging tech is designed to be able to run through cell phones' shells and cases and you can build version two with a polycarbonate cover that'd survive a charging battlebot.

[summm]

If the phone is mounted to the electric wheelchair anyway, could one just use the chair's battery as a powerbank?

[saulrh]

You probably could. I personally wouldn't attempt it because I mostly do software and wouldn't want to risk draining it dry overnight or voiding the warranty or something, but if it's a just a car battery it shouldn't be hard for someone with more EE knowledge.

Another option might just be to mount an entirely sperate power system just for the phone and any other devices. Buy a huge USB power bank off Amazon and mount it to the carriage or something, might not even need duct tape.

[dreamcompiler]

That was my first thought too. If there's a 12v battery on the chair, a car USB adapter could power the qi pad. Then the issue is how to move phone to pad and move it off the pad for use. There would be virtually no chance of running down the wheelchair battery with this setup; the motors use much more energy than a USB charger.