Assessing the Effects of Rolling Resistance and Rotational Inertia on Wheelchair Wheelie Balance Using a Robotic Model
By Kirby, R. Lee; Schwartz, Rachael; Parker, Kim; Gu, Jason; RESNA Annual Conference - 2009,Publication Date: 2011
Study assessed a robotic wheelie prototype by testing the hypothesis that the duration of balance can be increased by increasing the rolling resistance (RR) and raising the center of gravity (CG). The prototype assessed employed a four wheeled chassis to autonomously balance an inverted pendulum by means of digitized angular feedback and a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) of the drive wheels. This was a single input and single output control system, where the input was the angle of the pendulum from vertical, and the output was the voltage applied to the drive wheels. The device was programmed to employ a reactive balance strategy. The wheelie balance times were recorded in 4 conditions: (1) low RR and low CG, (2) low RR and high CG, (3) high RR and low CG, and (4) high RR and high CG. Increasing the RR or the CG height each increased the duration of balance. The balance time in the high RR and high CG condition was 2.48 times long than that in the low RR and low CG condition. Implications of these findings for wheelchair skills training and for the design of powered wheelchairs are discussed.
Published by: Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Website:http://www.resna.org)
Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Web Site: http://www.resna.org )
Link to text: http://web.resna.org/conference/proceedings/2009/Wheeled%20Mobility/DemersRoboWheelie.html
