Development of power-assisted attendant-propelled wheelchair

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