A Wheelchair with connected crawler

A Wheelchair with connected crawler

  This paper proposes a mechanism for mobile chair system that has 3 flat stages with crawlers. The wheelchair uses connected motor-driven crawlers instead of conventional wheels. The main features of the system are as follows: 1) the wheelchair can pass over fairly wide gaps, i.e., gaps lying between platform and trains at railway stations, 2) the size can be redueced by folding the stages, 3) the wheelchair can pass over obstacles, it can climb up and down stairs if the stairs are not so steep. This paper explains the structure of the proposed wheelchair system, its control architecture and strategies to pass over gaps and obstacles.