Stair-climbing Wheelchair Research Articles

Design and Analysis of Tracked Stair-Climbing Robot Using Innovative Suspension System

Obstacle-crossing and stair-climbing abilities are crucial to the performance of mobile robots for urban environment mobility. This paper proposes a tracked stair-climbing robot with two bogie-like suspensions to overcome architectural barriers. After a general introduction to stair-climbing robots, the “XXbot” concept is presented. We developed a special model that helps us figure out how a system will move based on the shape of the ground it is on. Then, stair-climbing simulations were performed with the multibody software MSC-Adams and the results are presented. This shows that the robot can be used in many different ways, such as stair-climbing wheelchair platforms.

Design and Prototype a Stair-Climbing Wheelchair

Abstract The disabled usually utilize wheelchairs for their daily mobility and locomotion. These motorized vehicles can travel on relatively flat surfaces or tracks without any problems, but moving up and down the stairs is always a challenge for most commercial wheelchairs. In other words, a person with a disability cannot go anywhere inside a multistory building, shopping store, subway, etc. if they are not built according to accessibility codes. A versatile wheelchair with the ability to negotiate stairs not only improves the daily lives of people with disability, but it can also save their lives in the event of an emergency which requiring immediate evacuation of a building. This article proposes two novel designs to facilitate the stair-climbing feature for a motorized wheelchair. One of the design concepts is based on a curved-spoke mechanism with transformation capability from a round wheel to a tri-leg mechanism to facilitate the translation mode as well as the stair-climbing mode of a wheelchair. The next design concept is an enhanced tri-wheel mechanism using a combination of a tri-wheel setup and planetary gears, to provide a unique capability for the climbing mechanism. After analysis and considering the pros and cons of each design concept, the tri-wheel planetary mechanism has been selected for making a scaled-down model and testing the transmission system on the stairs. The scaled-down prototype can successfully move up or down the stairs in the climbing mode and travel on flat or inclined surfaces in the translation mode.

SAMARTH - A Multi Foldable Stair Climbing Wheel Chair for Differently Abled

SAMARTH - A Multi Foldable Stair Climbing Wheel Chair for Differently Abled

Stair-climbing wheelchair proven to maintain user's body stability based on AnyBody musculoskeletal model and finite element analysis.

The electric stair-climbing wheelchair is a beneficial mobile assistance device for older adults and disabled persons with poor walking ability, as it reduces the daily walking and climbing burden. In this paper, 11 older adults were tested when using a stair-climbing wheelchair in three environments: flat ground, slopes, and stairs. The kinematic and dynamic parameters of the lower limb joints were simulated by AnyBody 7.2 human model simulation software using Vicon 3D infrared motion capture, a 3D force table, and analyzed by ANSYS 19.2 Workbench. The joint force, joint moment, and muscle strength did not change significantly under the three environments when using the wheelchair. Through finite element analysis of the mechanical properties of the human body, when using the wheelchair, no significant differences in the overall stress distributions of the fifth lumbar spine, hip bone, or femur were found among the three environments, no significant differences in deformation and displacement were found, and the stress distribution was relatively stable. Therefore, the human body is stable enough to use the electric stair-climbing wheelchair in the three test environments, all of which will be commonly encountered in daily life.

Modeling and Design of a Stair Climbing Wheelchair with Pose Estimation and Adjustment

Modeling and Design of a Stair Climbing Wheelchair with Pose Estimation and Adjustment

Optimal Design of a Novel Leg-Based Stair-Climbing Wheelchair Based on the Kinematic Analysis of the Stair Climbing States

This work presents a method to find the optimal configuration of a leg-based stair-climbing wheelchair. This optimization begins with the definition of a high-level control architecture, in which the kinematics restrictions related to the specific obstacles are considered. Then, the reference trajectories for all the actuators are generated as a function of the physical parameters of the mechanism, the dynamic restrictions of the actuators (velocity and acceleration) and the sensor errors. This work illustrates, based on a set of configurations, how the total time to climb up and climb down a defined stair depends on all these parameters, also reporting the best set of parameters that reduces the time and makes the mechanism more stable for a given scenario. The optimization in this work is performed with a brute-force search within a grid of parameters with a resolution of 1 mm. Thus, as the local minima is located, the complexity of the problem is revealed.

Autonomous detection and ascent of a step for an electric wheelchair

With the number of individuals using a wheelchair on the rise, the issue of removing architectural barriers, or at least overcoming them, has to be faced to improve independence, inclusiveness, and participation of wheelchair users. Some electric wheelchairs can climb and descend stairs and obstacles, however, the actual operations required to do so safely may be complex and may require an experienced or trained user. To overcome this issue, a method to first detect and classify a step and then autonomously climb it safely is proposed here. The same method is then applied and tested on an actual stair-climbing wheelchair prototype to prove its reliability in different conditions.

Modelling and control strategies for a motorized wheelchair with hybrid locomotion systems

Several kinematic and dynamic models of conventional motorized wheelchairs in the literature presume the wheelchair movement only on flat surfaces, disregarding the effects of gravitational forces and rolling friction. In addition, there are no many studies clearly describing how the dynamic properties of a conventional wheelchair and stair-climbing wheelchair with a track mechanism are formulated. However, the design of a good controller generally involves the formulation of a comprehensive wheelchair model. This work contributes to the modelling of the motorized wheelchair with hybrid locomotion systems (MWHLSs), which have wheel and track mechanisms to move the wheelchair, regarding the formulation of kinematic and dynamic models for each locomotion system, considering the effects of gravitational forces and rolling friction, on flat and inclined surfaces and climbing stairs. From the mathematical model for each locomotion system, the gearmotor torque control is used, since the torque provides smooth and precise driving. Thus, the open-loop and closed-loop control techniques, such as control Lyapunov function, Backstepping control, and Proportional-Integral-Derivative controller, are designed due to their well-known characteristics. The robustness analysis of these controllers, taking into account the occurrence of external disturbances, indicates which one best assists wheelchair users, providing a safer and more efficient navigation with the MWHLS.

Stair-climbing wheelchair with lever propulsion control of rotary legs

This paper describes a novel stair-climbing wheelchair operated by human upper body using lever propelled rotary-legs with posture transition mechanism. The design principle of this wheelchair is to make use of the user's latent upper body capability, with appropriate mechanisms to enable extended functionality of the regular wheelchair without the need of heavy, expensive mechanisms or electric motors. An arm-operated mechanism allows the user to overcome steps and stairs independently without any external power source. The developed wheelchair consists of manual wheels with casters for planar locomotion, which provides capabilities equivalent to a regular manual wheelchair. In addition, the wheelchair has a rotary-legs mechanism based on lever propulsion control for climbing stairs. It also has a passive mechanism powered by gas springs for posture transition to shift the user's center of gravity between two positions for planar locomotion and for stair-climbing. The proposed design consists of only passive components, which makes the wheelchair more compact and lightweight. In this paper we describe in detail the development of this wheelchair and an investigation of how users can climb stairs independently. We also present evaluation experiments with a healthy participant and a dummy to investigate the feasibility of the proposed design.

Stair-Climbing Wheelchair based on Upper Body Biomechanics (the third report)

Stair-Climbing Wheelchair based on Upper Body Biomechanics (the third report)

A Stair-clamping Wheelchair for Elder People Based on Compound Structure

In China, there is still a lot of the buildings which are without elevator, meaning that the floors can only be accessed by walking up and down stairs. It is slow, time-consuming and energy-consuming. At the same time, due to social enhancement like rising life expectancy, population aging has become a common phenomenon in majority regions of China. As there are more old people in the residential system, the challenge of climbing staircases is beginning to be considered as a potential social issue. Indeed, it is easy to find a stair-climbing wheelchair on the market nowadays, but not much device is able to provide the proper help for the majority of old ones who suffer through a daily double challenge of carrying some heavyweights from the vegetable markets and climbing the stair just to access residents. At present, the stair-climbing mobility has already been developed for several years, and there are a lot of different mechanical structures with different features. My design attains the maximized efficiency of stair-climbing and is able to consistently maintain the weights in the box structure always horizontal relative to the ground, under a device-body angle self-adjusting system. And it is able to do the job stably and efficiently, it will further facilitate the elders’ lives.

Smart Stair-Climbing Wheelchair using Tri-Wheel Mechanism for Disabled and Elderly

Smart Stair-Climbing Wheelchair using Tri-Wheel Mechanism for Disabled and Elderly

Design and Analysis of a Stair Climbing Wheel Chair

This paper aims to bring forward a means to climb stairs easily for older and disabled people. A stair climbing wheel chair machine, a semi-automated vehicle, which has the capability to climb the stairs easily. a wheel chair is designed and analyzed with planetary gear system attachment for the wheels. The structure and assembly of planetary wheel basic parameters required have been calculated for climbing steps without slipping. The stress analysis on wheel chair has been performed for its various operating conditions. When the wheelchair climbs stairs, there is danger of falling down the stairs, hence in order to protect the user to avoid this kind of situation to happen a ratchet mechanism locking system is proposed. Most wheelchairs are oblique during the process of climbing up and down stairs and the user will feel uncomfortable as it can easily turnover, which poses a big safety risk. In order to overcome this problem, a seat backrest adjusting device is proposed for this wheelchair, so before the wheelchair climbs up and down stairs, this device will adjust an angle for the seat and backrest to make sure the seat of the wheelchair keeps level with the ground all the time. The wheel chair assembly is modeled and its components are analyzed by considering three different materials under various likely possible loading conditions on wheel chair with the help of finite element analysis software and the results are presented.

Multi-objective Reliability-based Design Optimization for Climbing drive System of Stair-climbing Wheelchair

The 2K-H planetary gear reducer is an important driving part in the climbing system of the stair-climbing wheelchair. Based on the conventional mechanical design parameters, the mathematical model of the reliability optimization of the planetary gear reducer is established by using the reliability theory and the computer optimization method. Seeking optimal design parameters by the optimization algorithm of Matlab software. On the basis of satisfying the reliability constraint, the purpose of reducing the volume of the reducer and increasing the transmission efficiency is realized. It provides a theoretical basis for further optimization of structural design.

Wa-Chair: A concept for development of economical stair-climbing wheelchair

In this paper, a concept for development of cost effective and reliable stair climbing wheelchair is being proposed. Slider-crank mechanism is being used to compensate for any variation in inclination angle of the wheelchair during ascent or descent on stairs. Controlling wheelchair’s inclination angle can reduce risk for the rider as it prevents the wheelchair from toppling. A prototype is being developed to validate proposed mechanism. Proposed mechanism allows rider to view in the direction of progress which adds additional safety to the rider.

Design of Stair-Climbing Wheelchair using Tri-Wheel Mechanism

Design of Stair-Climbing Wheelchair using Tri-Wheel Mechanism

An autonomous stair-climbing wheelchair

Demographic change is making more and more elderly people dependent on care. As a result, there are staff shortages at nursing homes, which now require technical aid.Mobility is considered an essential component for ensuring quality of life, social contact, and a self-determined life. With the introduction of the autonomous stair-climbing wheelchair, unlimited and independent mobility is ensured for movement-limited people. Because of dynamic stabilization, the wheelchair moves on only one axis. Thereby, it has highly agile driving behavior and is compact in size. The autonomous climbing system is based on a leg mechanism that consists of two legs with lower and upper leg support. While climbing a stairway, the legs push the wheelchair on the next higher situated step. Afterwards the legs are pulled successively on to the next step as well. While climbing down, the opposite sequence of movements occurs.

Dynamic Simulation of an Electric Stair-Climbing Wheelchair

In this paper, a novel stair-climbing wheelchair is proposed. This new architecture represents an improvement over previous designs, in particular with regards to stability and safety during stair-climbing operations. The proposed mechanical architecture is hybrid: two locomotion units based on a “rotating leg” system are coupled with an idle track. This structure satisfies many design requirements: small dimensions, reduced weight, and a stable and regular climbing trajectory. In particular, the focus of this study is the design of an actuation system, the choice of suitable control logics, and the dynamic analysis of the proposed solution. The behavior of the wheelchair was tested through multibody simulation. The simulation results show that the proposed device can climb a staircase in a stable and safe manner. Certain smart dynamic features of the wheelchair were also proven. In particular, the efficacy of the cooperative actuation system and the effectiveness of the proposed control logic were analyzed. In conclusion, the simulation results demonstrate the appropriate operation of the proposed device, which will be used to design a working prototype of the stair-climbing wheelchair.

Kinematic analysis of an electric stair-climbing wheelchair

<p>This paper presents the functional design and the kinematic synthesis of the last version of an electric stair-climbing wheelchair. The proposed device represents the latest evolution of the ‘Wheelchair.q’ project and introduces several improvements over previous designs. This updated solution has greater stability during stair-climbing operation and satisfy the safety requirements introduced by ISO 7176-28:2012, “Requirements and test methods for stair-climbing devices”. The main improvement presented, concerns the regularity of the user trajectory during stair-climbing, which ensures a more comfortable perception. This result has been achieved through the introduction of a cam mechanism between the frame connected to the locomotion unit and the seat frame, which properly manages the seat orientation. With an appropriate cam profile it is possible to compensate the oscillations introduced on the wheelchair during the climbing sequence and allow the user to obtain a translational trajectory. The proposed design and its working principle are firstly described and illustrated through schematic and graphic representations. A brief explanation of the procedure for obtaining the cam profile is also given. Two different architectures for the cam mechanism are then compared and the advantages and disadvantages for each solution are identified. Finally, the kinematic wheelchair performances are tested through a simulation obtained in the MSC-ADAMS multibody environment.</p>

A wheelchair with lever propulsion control for climbing up and down stairs.

This study proposes a novel stair-climbing wheelchair based on lever propulsion control using the human upper body. Wheelchairs are widely used as supporting locomotion devices for people with acquired lower limb disabilities. However, steps and stairs are critical obstacles to locomotion, which restrict their activities when using wheelchairs. Previous research focused on power-assisted, stair-climbing wheelchairs, which were large and heavy due to its large actuators and mechanisms. In the previous research, we proposed a wheelchair with lever propulsion mechanism and presented its feasibility of climbing up the stairs. The developed stair-climbing wheelchair consists of manual wheels with casters for planar locomotion and a rotary-leg mechanism based on lever propulsion that is capable of climbing up stairs. The wheelchair also has a passive mechanism powered by gas springs for posture transition to shift the user's center of gravity between the desired positions for planar locomotion and stair-climbing. In this paper, we present an advanced study on both climbing up and going down using lever propulsion control by the user's upper body motion. For climbing down the stairs, we reassembled one-way clutches used for the rotary-leg mechanism to help a user climb down the stairs through lever operation. We also equipped the wheelchair with sufficient torque dampers. The frontal wheels were fixed while climbing down the stairs to ensure safety. Relevant experiments were then performed to investigate its performance and verify that the wheelchair users can operate the proposed lever propulsion mechanism.