Battery friendly driving control of electric power-assisted wheelchair based on fuzzy algorithm

This paper describes a novel driving control scheme of electric power-assisted wheelchairs for higher energy efficiency driving based on fuzzy algorithm. ”Electric power-assisted wheelchair” which assists the driving force by electric motors is expected to be widely used as a mobility support system for elderly people and disabled people. However, if the batteries have run out, the wheelchair imposes a strain on human operator. Therefore this study proposes a novel fuzzy algorithm based assisted torque generation method according to the human input torque in order to realize higher energy efficiency driving. Fuzzy rules are designed from the consumption energy and driving distance in order to improve the energy efficiency. Some driving experiments confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control system.