Simulation-Based Study Using a Stair Climbing Wheelchair

A simulation-based approach provides a hint to study a solution to various problems. To show the feasibility of this approach, this paper focuses on a self-propelled stair climbing wheelchair. This wheelchair was designed to climb up/down a regular and common staircase without any special facilities. Using a solid model for this stair climbing wheelchair, simulation-based analysis was conducted to validate the stair climbing feasibility to fulfill the process-oriented approach, which pursues to enjoy the process as well as to comfortably achieve the goal. The simulation results in this study show that it is possible to climb up/down a staircase but some safety counter measures are required. The idea of counter measures is also presented in this paper. Some conclusions and future directions are made on the feasibility of this project.