Steering and dynamic performance of a new configuration of a wheelchair on two wheels in various indoor and outdoor environments

A new configuration of double inverted pendulum (IP) with an extended rod is investigated in this paper. This configuration mimics a wheelchair moving on two wheels and equipped with a mechanism that allows lifting the chair and the user to any predefined height as per the user´s need. The double IP system on two wheels is classified as a complex in its own. Having a mechanism for lifting the chair increases the degrees of freedoms (DOF) and the complexity and nonlinearity of this system. Providing that the system is already tested, in previous work, in terms of stability under various disturbance effects; this study focuses on investigating the steering and dynamic performance behaviour while working in both indoors and outdoors environments. Furthermore; various types of terrains; Peat, Grave, Golf course with different dynamic inclinations are used to test the system while working on them. A hybrid fuzzy logic (FL) proportional derivative (PD) controller is used in this study where the parameters of the control algorithm are optimized using a hybrid spiral dynamic bacterial chemtaxis (HSDBC) optimization tool.