Is there any resource for iBot repair?
March 24, 2015 2:34 PM Subscribe
A friend of mine is confined to a chair, and the ibot was a game changer for him, but since the dissolution of the company that distributed and repaired them, time is running out for this quality-of-life issue for him and others. Are there repairmen out there? What advice can you give on obtaining schematics that are being withheld supposedly for liability reasons? Short of a specific solution....how have you dealt with a technology that is prematurely obsolete?
I am hoping that there is someone familiar with the iBot in particular. My friend is certainly not alone in this, in that there are quite a few of these devices out there, and for those that rely on them, the thought of a life with less is disheartening to say the least. But i will also welcome advice on dealing with the hurdles of trying to obtain diy fixes as well, in the face of the parent company holding onto its intellectual property, and therefore no repair manuals or schematics presently available to owners.
I am hoping that there is someone familiar with the iBot in particular. My friend is certainly not alone in this, in that there are quite a few of these devices out there, and for those that rely on them, the thought of a life with less is disheartening to say the least. But i will also welcome advice on dealing with the hurdles of trying to obtain diy fixes as well, in the face of the parent company holding onto its intellectual property, and therefore no repair manuals or schematics presently available to owners.
I mean, whoever had the service contract is gone, but the inventor, Dean Kamen, is still around, you can try contacting him here.
posted by Oktober at 2:49 PM on March 24, 2015
posted by Oktober at 2:49 PM on March 24, 2015
According to Wikipedia:
posted by Michele in California at 2:51 PM on March 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
In late 2014, Kamen announced that the FDA had reclassified the iBOT from a Class III to a Class II medical device. This lowering of regulatory controls will allow DEKA to revive the long dormant iBOT and immediately start building a next generation product. Kamen said the model would be out in “less than two years" and would be available initially to wounded veterans.So, hopefully this will only be a short term crisis for your friend.
posted by Michele in California at 2:51 PM on March 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: There appears to be a Facebook group, Save the iBot, where a former engineer with DEKA often posts to assist individuals with issues with their iBots and has also posted a phone number to assist people with iBot issues.
Becoming part of a user group such as the above, then getting in touch with former employees or engineers of the product to help obtain and then distribute documentation and fixes to the group, is ultimately how most support for obsolete technologies happens.
posted by eschatfische at 3:20 PM on March 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
Becoming part of a user group such as the above, then getting in touch with former employees or engineers of the product to help obtain and then distribute documentation and fixes to the group, is ultimately how most support for obsolete technologies happens.
posted by eschatfische at 3:20 PM on March 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by three_red_balloons at 2:45 PM on March 24, 2015