A novel stair-climbing wheelchair with transformable wheeled four-bar linkages

This paper describes the development of a novel multi-wheel stair-climbing wheelchair. The necessity for mobility aid technology for elderly and handicapped people that has “minimal invasiveness for use in an historical environment” is described. With this goal in mind, a prototype of a novel wheelchair having a stair-climbing function resulting from transformable wheeled four-bar linkages is proposed. The mechanical design, principle of operation and statics of the proposed mechanism are thoroughly illustrated. The basic performance of the proposed mechanism has been confirmed through experimental results.