A force/energy optimization model for wheelchair athletics

Wheelchair athletic performance is posed as an optimal control problem. A solution to the optimal control problem using force as the control variable and energy as the constraint is presented, along with the results of an experiment on the dynamics of racing wheelchair propulsion. The parameters derived from results of this experiment and appropriate results from previous investigations are applied to the force/energy model to predict possible US wheelchair athletics records. The predicted results were found to be within 5% of actual US records. This result reflects the belief that performances in wheelchair athletics are beginning to level out. The model represents a possible means for predicting a priori the performance of a wheelchair athlete