Cadence control of cycling wheelchair with Continuously Variable Transmission and servo brake

Abstract

Cycling wheelchair was developed for the way of the lower-limb-disabled individuals moving. User can move by pedaling and easily realize free locomotion although they have handicaps. When they use the cycling wheelchair in outdoors, it is necessary to solve the problem of upward slope and downward slope. In this study, we develop a new cycling wheelchair as the system realizing enough aid without motor assist in the way of the safety. We attach CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) and servo brake on this cycling wheelchair and propose their control methods. By controlling CVT, we can maintain the state of pedaling easily, climb up the slope easily and increase the speed. Also, we realize gravity compensation by controlling servo brake, we can pedal at down slope like a horizontal road. We performed experiment and illustrate the validity of the proposed method.