A research and development project concerning electrical wheelchairs has been going on at the Department of Handicap Research at the University of Goeteborg for several years. Wheelchair function and design are assessed in relation to users' needs throughout the project. These needs can be formulated in functional terms and mainly comprise mobility and sitting function. The design of the electrical wheelchairs is based on the modular concept in order to provide flexibility with a few models. The main components of the wheelchair are the chassis, the seat unit, and the control unit. At present there are two types of chassis: one for indoor use and one for combined indoor and outdoor use. The new seat unit can be adjusted to the user's anthropmetric measurements and is based on a modular system. The work carried out so far has resulted in a production prototype of the wheelchair for combined indoor and outdoor use. This will be demonstrated in connection with presentation of the paper and the main principles will be presented. The emphasis will be placed on the power system, quantitative methods of measuring variables relating to driving and mechanical loading, and different aspects of the design of the chassis and the seat unit.
Electrical wheelchairs - power system
Elektrischer Rollstuhl - Antriebssystem
1983
1 Seite
Conference paper
English
IEEE | 2009
|Tema Archive | 2005
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