Steering assist system for a cycling wheelchair based on braking control

In this study, we propose a steering control method for a cycling wheelchair. The commercially available cycling wheelchair is a pedal-driven system that is similar to a bicycle, and patients with impairment of their lower extremities can move the wheelchair based on the pedaling force if they can slightly move their legs by themselves. The user can also change the wheelchair direction using the steering handle. However, right and left turns are perceived differently and a large steering torque is required while operating the steering handle because of hardware problems associated with the cycling wheelchair. To overcome this problem, we propose a new hardware solution and a method for steering motion control using servo brakes for the cycling wheelchair. The proposed method is applied to the developed cycling wheelchair, and the experimental results illustrate the validity of the system.