Inclination Control of Tricycle with Swing Mechanism

Abstract

In Japan, many elderly people use tricycle, because it is considered to be safer than bicycle. However, ordinary tricycle cannot lean sideways like bicycles, so you cannot ride at high speed. On the other hand, there is the tricycle with swing mechanism. Because this tricycle can lean sideways, the rider can ride at high speed. However, the rider could fall off easily, especially at low speed. In order to prevent the rider from falling off, it is necessary to control the inclination depending on the speed. When the tricycle moving at low speed, the inclination of the tricycle is limited, and prevent the rider from falling off. When moving at high speed, the tricycle can lean sideways to make cornering easier. In this article, we develop a new tricycle which can control the inclination, and realized those functions, and confirm its validity by experiments.