Upgraded design for Troja and Olympos rollators to meet new user demands

Elderly and people with physical limitations are more and more concerned with keeping up their independence and living their normal social lives. They are also more and more conscious about their choices in respect to products reflecting their individual style needs. To meet these changes in customer behavior, Eker Design has cooperated with Topro Mobility redesigning their successful product lines Troja and Olympos.

Improving mobility and quality of life

Topro Industri AS is a Norwegian developer and producer of Medtech products. They offer mobility aids – mainly Rollators. Their rollators are world-known for their design, user-friendliness, and quality. Topro’s main office and production facility are located in Gjøvik in Norway.

The main objective of the facelift project was to create a new product line. The upgraded products should offer the feeling of a grounded, stable and strong look rollator for the users in need of this medical aid. Our challenge was to interpret these words into a visual design that could be used as design clues for this new product line. In addition, the product had to meet a set of functional requirements, the ISO standard for rollators (NS-EN ISO 11199-2) and user weight up to 150kg. 

Good design should be available for all walks of life!

Designing a modern and strong look, keeping a low weight and meeting the ISO standards.

The sketching and design process resulted in several design directions. The sketches were filtered through a cooperative iterative process into one common design direction and a set of design clues. To ensure the result, we quickly moved from 2D sketches to 3D models with the use of our subdivision modeling software. With years of experience with this modeling technique, our designers created a complete surface model in a fraction of time compared to the traditional parametric 3D modeling technique. 

Digital prototyping and 3D print

The 3D model of the rollator worked as a digital prototype and was evaluated by renders and live 3D reviews with the Topro team. Using digital 3D models allowed us to quickly make changes and adapt the drawings to reduce the number of costly and time-consuming physical prototypes.  

In parallel with the new design process, we started working with the engineering of the product. These two parallel processes merged in the first physical 3D printed prototype. This prototype was used for testing according to the required ISO standard and the strict internal quality requirements of Topro. The prototype was also the basis for the physical design review and evaluation.

Design for manufacturing

Topro has a modern and highly automated production- and assembly line. The new construction had to integrate well with the existing production facilities. We further evolved and optimized the production friendliness of the parts and worked closely with mold makers to make sure they understood our quality requirements for each individual part.

The new Topro rollators

The new Troja and Olympos is a modern and appealing product with strong stand crispier lines. The wheels have been optimized to optimal stiffness while providing a clean look. The parts have been optimized for the required strength of the chosen material and to reduce cost and the impact on our environment. 

User crentric design and construction

In addition to a common design language for both rollators, a common color theme has been used to create a stronger visual identity for the Topro products. We hope our effort in design will help users to feel better and that it will help them to be less exposed to stigma.

For Olympos, the wheel stand was improved to improve stability and the wobbling of the front wheel has been removed by a mechanical improvement. Both rollators will be available in two different sizes and the profile color can be selected to suit your personal lifestyle.

Earlier we developed Topro Pegasus, a carbon rollator completing the range. Pegasus is a lightweight and robust rollator with elegant design, intuitive functions, and compact transport size. 

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The Topro Rollators are designed and manufactured in Norway.

Photo: Topro/Eker Design