CIHANG

Foldable care robot. Self-driving, offline voice, five-second fold.

Finish

5 sFolds in one touch.
360°Two LiDARs, two cameras.
OfflineVoice AI on the chair itself.
25 kmOn a single charge.

Autonomous navigation

It maps your home
on the first drive.

Two LiDARs and two depth cameras map each room. Then CIHANG finds its own way and docks to charge.

CIHANG

Docked. Tap a room.

Battery 92% 23 km left

Speed 0.0 m/s

Sensors Clear LiDAR·RGB‑D

Hi. Tell me where you'd like to go.

<200 msObstacle response

1st driveMap built

0°Turning radius

AutoReturn to dock

Overhead view of CIHANG on a marble floor beside a sofa, with LiDAR scan rings drawn around it — **Sees all the way around.** 360° LiDAR to 30 m, depth cameras for small obstacles.

CIHANG driving down a wood-panelled corridor, backrest light on — **Public spaces too.** Lobbies, corridors and community centers.

CIHANG entering an elevator — **Rides the elevator.** Calls the car and changes floors on its own.

Perception & drive

Two LiDARs. Two cameras.
Two computers.

Front of CIHANG: sensor module set into the footplate beside the mecanum wheel — **Sensors set into the shell.** Nothing to catch on doors or clothes.

Dual LiDAR: 360° scanning from 0.05 to 30 m.
Dual RGB-D cameras: Depth and terrain data, fused with LiDAR.
SLAM + ROS 2 Nav2: In-house mapping and path planning. Reacts in under 200 ms.
Dual-system architecture: One board for driving and safety, one for screen, voice and app.
Redundant braking: Electromagnetic and mechanical brakes. Let go and it stops.
Mecanum front wheels: Two 150 W brushless motors. Turns on the spot.

Five ways to drive.

Joystick Let go and it stops.
Touchscreen 5.7-inch. Mode, speed, battery.
Voice On-device. 61+ dialects.
Gesture Simple hand signals.
App Send it, track it, share it.

One-touch folding

Five seconds. One touch.
Nothing to take apart.

Most smart wheelchairs have to come apart. CIHANG folds whole, from 880 to 510 mm, at one press.

CIHANG folded flat on a living-room floor; scrolling unfolds it

Height 510 mm

5 sFold or unfold

510 mmFolded height

−42%Less height

0Parts removed

Close-up of CIHANG folded and standing inside a walnut wardrobe, backrest light on — **Fits a wardrobe.** Or stands beside the bed.

Side view of CIHANG folded flat, wheels and armrests still attached — **Fits a car trunk.** One piece, nothing to lift off.

CIHANG shown unfolded and folded side by side on a white background — **Powered both ways.** Folds and unfolds itself in about five seconds.

Designed for the living room

It looks like furniture.
That's the point.

Co-designed with older adults: a low, stable stance, soft surfaces, warm colors and walnut where your hands rest.

CIHANG in pure side view on white: walnut armrests, taupe cushions, ivory shell — **Nothing exposed, nothing clinical.** Everything sits inside one shell.

Three CIHANG chairs side by side in a lobby: cream, navy and titanium, all with walnut armrests — **Three finishes, one walnut.** Cream, navy or titanium, always with walnut armrests.

Cream matte shellAluminum, stainless steel and composite underneath.
Solid walnut armrestsFlip up for easier transfers in and out.
Soft-touch PU seatRemovable and washable.
5.7-inch displayDriving mode, speed, battery and alerts. Nothing else.
IP54 enclosureWipe it down without a second thought.

On-device voice AI

Just say where
you want to go.

The language model runs on the chair: it works offline, keeps your voice private and understands 61+ Chinese dialects.

Listening · on-device

Take me to the kitchen.

On my way. I'll go around the coffee table.

A bit slower.

Slowing down.

I'm done. Go charge.

Heading back to the dock.

Works offline

Speech and language run on the chair. No cloud, no account.

Private by design

Nothing you say is uploaded.

61+ dialects

Made for dialects, accents and slower speech.

Still yours to drive

Or use the joystick, touchscreen, gestures or app.

Who it’s for

Built for people who still
have places to be.

For anyone who finds walking hard, and the people who care for them.

A day with CIHANG.

A grandmother in a CIHANG on a park lawn, handing a strawberry to her granddaughter; the family on a picnic blanket beside her — **Out with the family.** Lawn, path or picnic, the chair comes along.

07:30
“I’m thirsty.”To the kitchen. No hands on the joystick.
Aging in place
09:10
Doorbell.“Someone’s at the door” takes it to the entry.
Living with limited mobility
11:00
Out to the park.Folds in five seconds, into the trunk as one piece.
Recovering
14:00
“I’m tired.”Bedroom for a nap. The app shows the family it arrived.
Caring from a distance
18:30
Dinner.Dining table, then the sofa for the evening news.
Aging in place
22:00
Back to dock.Charges overnight. Ready by morning.
Caring from a distance

And where one chair serves many.

CIHANG driving itself down a hospital corridor with an elderly patient, a nurse walking alongside — **Hospitals and rehab.** Ward to clinic on its own, elevators included.

Two residents having tea in a senior community lounge, one seated in a CIHANG; a second chair charging by the wall — **Senior communities.** One fleet, many residents, a saved place for each.

A row of CIHANG chairs on charging docks in an airport concourse, a traveller unlocking one with his phone — **Rental fleets and hospitality.** Rent at a dock, return anywhere, track every chair.

Design process

Designed around
the fold.

The folding frame and its patent came first. So the work went structure-first: shell, parts and colors were built around it.

My role: industrial design lead, 2025–2026. Shared with the client’s permission; part of the process stays under NDA.

Three things it had to do.

Sit safe.
Stable and comfortable, with no tipping.
Fold in one step.
Open, it takes room; folding should be one simple move.
Stand against a wall.
Folded, it leans on a wall at home or in a lobby.

Structure first.

Five CAD views of the structural model: frame, folding mechanism and component layout — **From the engineer.** The frame, the fold and where every part sits.

Six CAD views of the final shell on the structural model — **The shell on the frame.** I modeled it on that frame and sent vector files back, round after round, until the prototype model was set.

26 parts, fewer molds.

Prototype shell parts laid out on a stone floor — **The prototype shell, laid out.** Without the frame and electronics it is 26 plastic parts. Mirrored parts were made identical, so they share molds.

The same shell parts laid out on a carpet, the base in the middle — **The prototype shell, laid out.** Without the frame and electronics it is 26 plastic parts. Mirrored parts were made identical, so they share molds.

Color and finish.

CIHANG in side view: cream shell, light frame, walnut armrests — **Warm Gray 1 C** Cream shell, light frame.

**Warm Gray 1 C** Cream shell, light frame.

CIHANG in side view: warm taupe shell, dark frame, walnut armrests — **Stucco 16-1412 TCX** Warmer shell, dark frame.

**Stucco 16-1412 TCX** Warmer shell, dark frame.

CIHANG in navy — **Three client colors, matched to Pantone.** Dark colors are matte so the form feels lighter; light ones are gloss. Each suits a different setting.

CIHANG in gray — **Three client colors, matched to Pantone.** Dark colors are matte so the form feels lighter; light ones are gloss. Each suits a different setting.

Tech specs

The numbers.

5 sFold time

510 mmFolded height (880 mm unfolded)

6 km/hTop speed (3.7 mph)

25 kmRange per charge (15.5 mi)

150 kgMax user weight (331 lb)

48 kgChair weight (105.8 lb)

18 AhBattery, automatic return‑to‑charge

IP54Enclosure rating

<200 msObstacle response

360°Environmental perception

2 + 2LiDAR units + RGB‑D cameras

1044 × 587 mmFootprint, length × width (41.1 × 23.1 in)

FAQ

Questions.

Does it need an internet connection?

No. Voice, navigation and mapping run on the chair. A connection adds remote monitoring, elevator calls and updates.

How small does it get?

510 mm tall folded, down from 880 mm. It fits a wardrobe, a car trunk or an elevator without taking anything apart.

Can I still drive it myself?

Yes. Joystick, touchscreen, gestures or app, any time. Let go of the joystick and it stops. Self-driving is a mode you choose.

Who is it for?

Older adults living at home, people recovering from surgery or injury, long-term wheelchair users and their families. Institutions use the Shared version. See where it is used.

Is it certified?

NMPA Class II medical device, tested to GB/T 12996-2024 and GB/T 18029 / ISO 7176. Also certified: CE (MDR, RoHS), FDA 510(k), FCC, KC, MFDS and UN38.3.

Two CIHANG chairs facing each other in a wood-panelled living room, one unfolded and one folded

Go where you want.
Fold it away at home.

Back to top

CIHANG

Finish

It maps your homeon the first drive.

Two LiDARs. Two cameras.Two computers.

Five ways to drive.

Five seconds. One touch. Nothing to take apart.

It looks like furniture.That's the point.

Just say whereyou want to go.