Abstract
This paper proposes an electric wheelchair that realized traveling on uneven environments and standing. The proposed wheelchair allows a caregiver to reduce their burdens and a user to improve QOL. Conventional electric wheelchairs have mainly three problems: medical problems sitting for a long time, a psychological problem due to the low position of eyes, and low traveling performances on uneven environments. The proposed wheelchair consists of a link mechanism powered by a gas spring for changing its posture and a traveling mechanism with a part of caterpillar and a flipper arm for uneven environments. This paper presents the concept design and the experimented results of standing and stair climbing using a scale model wheelchair, which confirms the design effectiveness.
