Dynamic analysis for stair-climbing of a new-style wheelchair robot

In this paper, a wheelchair robot equipped with new-style variable-geometry-tracked mechanism is proposed. Different from general variable-geometry-tracked mechanisms, the key feature of this new-style mechanism is that it can adapt to convex terrain and transform to concave geometry by active control of track tension, based on which the ability of stair-climbing of traditional wheelchair is improved. For obtaining the dynamic characteristic of stair-climbing which is crucial to the robot design, the locomotion and transformation rule for the robot during different climbing phases is presented, the dynamic models of the robot whole body and its fundamental components are established. Finally the dynamic simulation for stair-climbing is performed, and the drive characteristic of the robot under different climbing conditions is obtained. The simulation results provide theoretical foundation to the future work of driving system design and mechanical parameters optimization.