Novel straight road driving control of power assisted wheelchair based on disturbance estimation and minimum jerk control

Power assisted wheelchair which assists the driving force by electric motors is expected to be widely used as a mobility support system for elderly people and disabled people. In the practical driving condition, the straight driving can be prevented by the road conditions such as branches, grass and carpets because the right and left wheels drive independently. This paper proposes a novel straight road driving control system based on the disturbance torque estimation. The proposed system estimates the driving torque difference between the right and left wheels by disturbance observer and compensates to one side of the wheels. This paper also describes a minimum jerk trajectory control for power assisted wheelchair to improve the ride quality and safety. Some practical experiments on the various practical roads show the effectiveness of the proposed control systems and the possibility for the multi purpose and high performance system of power assisted wheelchair.