Safety Driving Control for Electric Power Assisted Wheelchair Based on Regenerative Brake

This paper describes a novel safety driving control scheme for electric power assisted wheelchairs based on regenerative braking system and the driving control mode switching. "Electric power assisted wheelchair" which assists the driving force by electric motor is expected to be widely used as a mobility support system for elderly people and disabled people, however, it has no braking system to decrease the wheelchair\´s velocity and brings the dangerous and fearful driving on downhill roads. This paper proposes a novel safety driving control scheme based on regenerative brake and driving mode switching. This system applies the regenerative braking system with variable duty ratio by switching from "driving mode" to "braking mode" when the wheelchair\´s velocity increases on downhill roads. Some driving experiments on the practical roads show the effectiveness of the proposed control system.