Pages 385-386
Not only handicapped people, but also elderly people living in Hokkaido, the northern most island in Japan, desire to participate in outdoor activities during the winter season which is characterized by heavy snow and low temperatures. Most of these people are required to venture outdoors to go shopping or to hospitals even under severe conditions. A wheelchair is generally used for outdoor transport. There are, however, many problems with using a wheelchair during winter; roads covered by snow and ice are very slippery, casters are easily buried in snow, and handrims are too cold to handle. Therefore, we had developed an electric wheelchair with front-wheel drive which is effective for outdoor use during winter. In this work, we carried out computer simulations for driving under snowy conditions for three type models of electric wheelchair; rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. In addition, we tested two types of rear-wheel drive and front-wheel drive of electric wheelchair for driving ability on iced and snowed roads.
