Capacitor regenerative braking system of electric wheelchair for senior citizen based on variable frequency chopper control

This paper proposes a novel regenerative braking control system of electric wheelchairs for senior citizen. ldquoElectric powered wheelchairrdquo, which generates the driving force by electric motors according to the human operation, is expected to be widely used as a mobility support system for elderly people. This study focuses on the braking control to realize the safety and smooth stopping motion using the regenerative braking control technique based on fuzzy algorithm. The ride quality improvement and energy recycling can be expected by the proposed control system with stopping distance estimation and variable frequency control on the step-up/down chopper type of capacitor regenerative circuit. Some driving experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control system.