Wheelchair users need help to be safe against COVID-19\. Centaur can adapt its vehicle and vehicle users' experience to meet new needs of highly vulnerable customers at risk of disease transmission. COVID-19 disproportionately affects disabled and older people, particularly those who receive care. As a result of COVID-19, 20,000 residents of care homes and 22,000+ disabled people have died, two-thirds of all deaths from March to May (ONS). Deaths in this population have been linked to poor infection control by carers working in multiple locations (DHSC). As a result of the DHSC report in April, vulnerable people in all settings worry about disease transmission and reduced/eliminated care visits. Additionally, carers worried about contracting COVID-19 and went into isolation leaving little or no care for homebound vulnerable people. Wheelchairs increase the risks of users contracting COVID-19 due to difficulty keeping it free of airborne or surface based droplets containing the virus. In addition, as a result of being below the height of most standing individuals, wheelchair users are at increased risk of having saliva droplets land on them or the equipment, where they can remain infectious for up to eleven days (Imperial College, Journal of Hospital Infection). Government leaves wheelchair users to fend for themselves - The Coronavirus Act received Royal Assent in March 2020\. It limits statutory care requirements only to where "urgent care needs are met, and defer meeting some other, less acute or pressing needs." In other words, vulnerable people (wheelchair users included) only receive urgent care and activities of daily living are often being left to the individual. Many wheelchair users are therefore wishing to maximise their independence to reduce care support requirements and manage with reduced support available. Currently, wheelchairs do not offer COVID-19 infection control features. Centaur's current design has fewer joints than and, therefore, is far easier to clean than other wheelchairs. Antiviral materials may offer an element of protection to users but the main focus of innovation will be on Centaur's design, both its features and service design. Centaur will review its design to further reduce any disease hosting crevices, improve cleaning service reminders and evaluate available paints/lacquers plus 'virucides'. Centaur will test and deliver COVID-19 infection control product and service specifications and update our existing prototype antiviral materials, if possible and safe. The project team consists of world class partners with backgrounds at Ford as Global Design Chief, Director of Design Age Institute (former COO of Independent Safeguarding Services), MD of Open Inclusion - global leading inclusive design agency, and RLE's leading advanced materials specialist. Centaur's PEVs aim to become zero carbon emissions through multiple means, including: * Using new "rugged plastic" materials that are easier to recycle than existing wheelchairs * Modern batteries are more environmentally friendly * New batteries are made out of recycled materials * The maintenance plan will provide for battery recycling

COVID-19 disproportionately affects wheelchair users, particularly those who are disabled or live in care homes. As a result of COVID-19, 200,000 residents of care homes and 22,000+ disabled people have died, two-thirds of all deaths from March to May (ONS). The Coronavirus Act received Royal Assent in March 2020\. It limits statutory care requirements only to where "urgent care needs are met, and defer meeting some other, less acute or pressing needs." In other words, vulnerable people (wheelchair users included) only receive urgent care and activities of daily living are left to the individual. Wheelchair users need help to be safe against COVID-19\. Centaur can adapt existing plans to meet new needs of vulnerable customers at high risk of aerosol disease transmission. Centaur's Personal Electric Vehicle (PEV) facilitates dignified, independent living but more importantly can better protect users from disease transmission in four ways; 1. Being height adjustable = due to the nature of aerosol based infection spread the lower you are the higher the risk of contamination and infection in public spaces. 2. Being powered and having enhanced access and egress considerations = less manual handling and transfers results in reduced staff/user proximity and contact. 3. Cleanability = the wheelchair is designed in adherence to DH/Design Council's Design Bugs Out programme and is significantly easier to decontaminate than existing chairs, which are nearly impossible to guarantee have been adequately disinfected. 4. Helping enforce social distancing = through collision avoidance and visual/audible/haptic cues to PEV users and people near the PEV social distancing can be maintained. After establishing a new paradigm for personal mobility, illustrating market acceptance of social distancing features and scaling production to achieve economies of scale, Centaur will offer lower priced PEVs that are highly desirable for people with mobility needs and want to break social stigma created by 100 year old wheelchair designs. Centaur's five year plan targets the US and European electric wheelchair market, which represents $2.4B and $1.6B respectively in 2020 and expected to grow 10.5% CAGR Currently, no wheelchairs in the market offer collision avoidance nor cues for social distancing. This project progresses foundational development of collision avoidance features and provides features specific to COVID-19 social distancing. Centaur is the only UK company in the race for next generation personal electric vehicles. These features will be first-to-market and, therefore, offers Centaur "first mover advantage". Centaur aims to become zero carbon emissions by incorporating: * New "rugged plastic" materials that are easier to recycle than existing wheelchairs; * More environmentally friendly batteries; * Batteries made from recycled materials; * Centaur maintenance plan provides battery recycling. The team is world class, led by Ford's former Global Design Chief and the UK's newly established Design Age Institute Director, Colum Lowe.

**Background** The Company was founded by David Rajan who was inspired to create a mobility product by his young son who has Cerebral Palsy. David researched the market but there was nothing available that worked well and looked good. David's research pointed to a gap in the market for a functional and beautifully designed personal vehicle that could provide the user with previously unattainable mobility and confidence. Centaur Robotics is re-imagining mobility for the 21st century and the Centaur is the first of a new generation of personal electric vehicles (PEV). **Product description / innovation** The Company has built a personal electric vehicle (PEV), a self balancing robot two wheeled driving chair with height adjust. The vehicle is designed for people who are less mobile but have good trunk control. Innovation comes from the complexity of bringing together the different elements of the product. Our design innovation reduces the size of the PEV and we have worked hard on keeping the desirable aesthetics. Innovation covers four main areas: *Design - inclusivity via use of high-tech, composite materials and software to produce a lightweight PEV. *Mobility and AI - new technology to provide solutions such as driver assist, collision avoidance, autonomous driving, routing and navigation, plus recording well being data. *Social mobility - mobile app, user groups, voice control, hand control, including diary integration and reminders. *MaaS - real-time PEV management information, two-way user communication, well being data, vehicle information and location. The innovation enables automation of this service, mobility-as-a-service in comparison to existing manual intensive methods. **This project** This project supported by Innovate UK looks to help solve some of the issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Namely the mobility and independence of people in care and their own homes but need assistance. Carers and care staff can be more productive by focusing more on people and less on moving people around their homes. The key objectives of this project are to develop a vehicle specifically for the care market and engage with business partners to bring a solution to market. **The future** Centaur Robotics looks forward to a future where there is independence of movement for all and users feel empowered. The project was extended to accelerate customer assessment and pre orders pilot program.