Abstract
This paper proposes an electric wheelchair that realized traveling on uneven environments and standing. This wheelchair allows a caregiver to reduce burdens and a user to improve QOL. Conventional electric wheelchairs have mainly four problems: medical problems due to sit for a long time, a psychological problem caused by the low position of eyes, problems that the user needs some assistance when transferring, and low traveling performances on uneven environments. The proposed wheelchair comprises two mechanisms: a link mechanism supported by a gas spring for changing its posture and a traveling mechanism with a part of crawlers and a flipper arm for getting over steps. This paper discusses the autonomous stair climbing for the proposed high-performance wheelchair. The autonomous stair climbing are demonstrated using a 1/3 scale model.
