A dual phase modular fuzzy control structure for an auto-mode wheelchair in ascending and descending stairs

Climbing a flight of stairs using a wheelchair is not as simple as balancing it on two wheels. Stairs climbing involves several phases, to ensure stability and safety in an auto-mode system. The subtle design of a stair climbing wheelchair system consists of three main actuators; a pair of motors, one for acting on each wheel and one for seat position. The operation of the system is based on the wheel rotation by lifting and bringing the other pair of wheels over one another on the staircases and vice versa. The challenge resides in an appropriate mechanical design and implementation of robust controller for the system to guarantee stability of the overall wheelchair while performing stair ascending and descending task automatically, with an assistant-free mode. A dwi-phase fuzzy logic control is introduced in this work and evaluated through intensive visual simulation to verify the proposed control approach.