Development of power-assisted attendant-propelled wheelchair

Abstract

Attendant propelled wheelchairs are driven by people who often feel necessity for power assistance while pushing them up or going down on ramps, sideslopes or curbs. We propose a novel power-assisted wheelchair with a force sensing mechanism. A DC motor and a differential gear are employed. The power assistance is controlled as if it were always operated on a solid flat ground. The control algorithm is based on a model reference adaptive control (MRAC). A prototype was made and initially tested. It was found effective to reduce operator's driving force.