Case Study: LUCI achieves rapid market launch of its smart wheelchair system with Protolabs

On-demand injection molding, plus sheet metal fabrication, help bring LUCI technology to market

LUCI, founded by brothers Barry and Jered Dean to make power wheelchairs safer, faced the dual challenge of bringing a first-of-its-kind sensor-driven system to market quickly and engineering “invisible” plastic housings that wouldn’t block millimeter-wave radar. To meet urgent development and manufacturing needs, LUCI turned to Protolabs for on-demand injection molding and sheet metal fabrication (along with services like insert molding and pad printing).

Protolabs worked with LUCI’s team through rapid, iterative tooling and an automated quoting process to produce thin ABS housings that let radar sensors function, insert-molded metal threads for secure attachment to the smart frame, sheet metal prototypes for the platform, and pad‑printed dashboard symbols. The result: parts delivered in as little as five days (typically 3–4 weeks), sheet metal prototypes in about a week versus 8–12 weeks traditionally, a market launch in early 2021, and broad recognition (Time Best Inventions 2020, CES Health & Wellness Innovation Award, etc.), enabling LUCI to accelerate development and scale more cost‑effectively with Protolabs.

LUCI

Jered Dean

Cofounder & Chief Technology Officer