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Measurement: Yoon Heo, Eung-Pyo Hong, Yoon-Hee Chang, Bora Jeong, Mu-Sung Mun
Measurement: Yoon Heo, Eung-Pyo Hong, Yoon-Hee Chang, Bora Jeong, Mu-Sung Mun
Measurement
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/measurement
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: A power-assisted wheelchair amplifies the user’s propulsion power. If the user’s arm strength is unbalanced, this
Power-assisted wheelchair can affect the driving balance. In order to correct this imbalance, a method of producing an assisting torque by
Torque balance control cross-referencing the opposite input torque was developed. One proposed torque balance control scheme in-
Temporal difference volves automatically controlling the cross-reference proportion according to the amplitude ratio of the left and
right input torques. However, this scheme cannot improve the driving performance under all conditions because
instability is inherent to the user’s propelling torque. To resolve this problem, a new torque balance control
method is proposed that considers not only the proportion of input torques but also the temporal difference. This
study examined the usefulness of the proposed torque balance control method based on the temporal difference
through a comparison with the existing method via a driving simulation and experiment.
1. Introduction direct torque sensors on a push-rim [6–8]. These methods were struc-
turally simple because they do not require a special device for power
A push-rim activated power assisted wheelchair (PAPAW) is a spe- and signal transmission. However, a problem in disturbance remains.
cial wheelchair that detects the user’s propulsion torque on the push- Hence, much research is still needed.
rim and assists the wheelchair’s driving torque with a motor device to The second research topic is about driving performance improve-
lessen the user’s physical fatigue. Its operation is as simple as that of a ment. As we have mentioned earlier, PAPAW is driven by the user’s arm
manual wheelchair, but its motor assists with the driving torque. Thus, propulsion. However, people’s left and right arms often have different
PAPAW can be helpful in rehabilitating the disabled. The potential risk strength levels. Therefore, the direction frequently needs to be cor-
factors of shoulder injury have been reported to be reduced, especially rected on the side with lesser power to make the wheelchair go straight.
for users of passive wheelchairs [1]. This benefit is also useful for SCI However, in the case of a PAPAW, the user’s driving propulsion torque
patients [2]. is amplified by the motor power. Hence, unbalanced arm strengths have
The PAPAW research topic can be classified into two broad cate- a stronger effect on the wheelchair’s driving performance.
gories as follow: a method of detecting a user's force applied to a push- Torque balance control is generally used to improve the PAPAW
rim and a driving control method for improving the driving perfor- driving performance. In the torque balance control, the assisting torque
mance. The power and the signal must be connected to the torque is determined by cross-referencing the opposite input torque to main-
sensor mounted on the rotating push-rim without twisting the wire so tain a certain ratio [9,10]. Seki particularly suggested a torque balance
that the propulsive force of the user could be measured. control method, where the user’s driving intention is recognized based
Non-contact torque recognition methods have been actively studied on the proportion of the left and right input torques, and the cross-
for the purpose of transmitting signals to a rotating wheel [3,4]. reference ratio is adjusted to improve both the straight and rotation
Especially, Yamaha Co. developed the first commercialize PAPAW and driving performances.
applied a circular connector that uses magnetic flux changes [3]. Alber However, detecting the driver’s driving intentions by using only the
Co. solved the wire twist problem by integrating the battery, control, proportion of torques has limitations because the user’s left and right
and sensor device into a rotating wheel [5]. In recent years, some propulsion torques are uneven and have a temporal difference. In this
studies have actively been conducted on a torque sensor-less method of study, we propose a new driving control method to solve this problem
estimating the user propulsive torque by detecting the motion of a and better reflect the user’s driving intention by additionally con-
minute wheel caused by a user propelling a wheelchair without using sidering the temporal difference between two input torques [11].
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ephong@kcomwel.or.kr (E.-p. Hong).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2018.02.024
Received 18 March 2016; Received in revised form 2 May 2017; Accepted 14 February 2018
Available online 15 February 2018
0263-2241/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Heo et al. Measurement 120 (2018) 175–181
This study compares the existing torque balance control method and
a new torque balance controller that considers the temporal difference
between the left and right propulsion torques to detect the user’s
driving intention via a driving simulation and an experiment. The re-
sults show that considering the temporal difference improved the
straight and rotation driving performances.
2.1. Overview
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Y. Heo et al. Measurement 120 (2018) 175–181
(a) Definition of temporal similarity (b) Range of variation in the balance ratio
Fig. 4. Temporal similarity and balance ratio variation range: (a) definition of the temporal similarity and (b) range of variation in the balance ratio dependent on the temporal similarity
between propelling torques.
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Y. Heo et al. Measurement 120 (2018) 175–181
(a) Straight driving (¨t =100 ms) (b) Straight driving (¨t = 300 ms)
(c) Rotation
Fig. 7. Experimental input torques: (a) different input signals with τs = 1.0; (b) τs = 0.5; (c) the input torque is only on the left side with τs = 0.0.
was applied than when the Seki controller was applied. angle decreased to about 50% of that with the non-balance controller.
When the torque balance controller that considered the temporal dif-
ference was applied, the change in posture angle was about 75% of that
3.2. Rotation driving simulation with the non-balance controller. This suggests that, when the temporal
difference is considered, the decrease in rotation performance due to
For the rotation driving simulation, the same torque signal as shown the limitations of the Seki’s torque balance method can be compen-
in Fig. 7(c) was applied. Fig. 9 shows the results of the driving simu- sated.
lation. In general, rotation is best facilitated when the left and right
wheels are driven independently from each other. Hence, the biggest
angle of rotation was possible with the non-balance controller.
When Seki’s control method was applied, the change in posture
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Y. Heo et al. Measurement 120 (2018) 175–181
Fig. 9. Simulation results of rotation driving: (a) driving trajectory of the wheelchair when a force was applied to only left wheel; (b) angle change of the wheelchair over time.
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Y. Heo et al. Measurement 120 (2018) 175–181
Fig. 11. Construction of the experimental environment: (a) experimental environment and (b) reflective marker setup.
Fig. 13. Results of the rotation driving experiment: (a) driving trajectory of the wheelchair, when a force was applied to only left wheel; (b) angle change of the wheelchair over time.
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Y. Heo et al. Measurement 120 (2018) 175–181
5.2. Rotation driving plan to perform further studies related to the driving performance im-
provement in an unbalanced road environment.
Fig. 13 shows the results of the rotation driving experiment with the
PAPAW. When a force was applied to only one side wheel for rotation Acknowledgments
driving of the wheelchair, the curve was sharpest with the non-balance
control. This agreed with the simulation result in Fig. 9. When Seki’s This study was supported by the Senior-friendly Product R&D pro-
balance control method was applied, the change in posture angle de- gram funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare through the Korea
creased to about 40% that of the non-balance control. When the balance Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) (HI14C1496).
controller based on the temporal difference was applied, the change in
posture angle was 70% that of the non-balance controller. This suggests References
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