2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Studies on Manipulability and Ride Comfort of Omni-directional Wheelchair
| Project/Area Number |
14550250
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Intelligent mechanics/Mechanical systems
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| Research Institution | Gifu National College of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
KITAGAWA Hideo Gifu National College of Technology, Dept. Electronic Control Engineering, Associate Professor, 電子制御工学科, 助教授 (80224955)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TERASHIMA Kazuhiko Toyohashi University of Technology, Faculty of Engineering, Professor, 工学部, 教授 (60159043)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Keywords | Wheelchair / Rehabilitation / Robot / Omni-directional Movement / Haptic / Collision Avoidance / Sonar / Environment Recognition |
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| Research Abstract |
The development of technology that facilitates the rehabilitation of people with severe and multiple handicaps in everyday life is desirable. An omni-directional wheelchair is highly maneuverable in narrow or crowded areas such as residences, offices and hospitals.
A motion control method for an omni-directional wheelchair was developed. A controller that considers patient comfort, and that has a simple structure, was designed and implemented. The effectiveness of the obtained controller was shown.
A power assist system for omni-directional transport wheelchairs considering both attendant's manipulability and rider's comfort was presented. The reference velocity of the omni-directional wheelchair was derived from attendant's input force. The first order lag controller, the direction estimator using fuzzy reasoning and the notch filter were adopted. The effectiveness of the control system was shown by experiments. Especially, manipulability of rotation was improved by using the direction estimator.
A novel method for the semi-autonomous control of an omni-directional wheelchair was developed. An algorithm for environmental map building has been established. Sensor readings have been translated to a probability of occupancy of each cell. A procedure has been established to create a complete map around the wheelchair that is drawn by means of the wheelchair's own motion. The stiffness in the input direction of the joystick has been calculated for the impedance control of the joystick.
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