Implementation and Evaluation of a Small Size Omnidirectional Wheelchair

With the accelerating development of aged tendency of population and rapid growth in the number of the disabled caused by diseases or injuries, the wheelchair with good performance for the aged and disabled is attracting the attention from the society. A wheelchair can provide the user with many benefits, such as maintaining mobility, continuing or broadening community and social activities, conserving strength and energy, and enhancing quality of life. The wheelchair body must be compact enough to go through narrow doorways. The wheelchair must be wide enough to prevent the patient from falling on the floor. A large footprint is therefore desirable for stability and safety, while wheelchairs must conform to dimensional constraints. In this paper, we present the implementation and evaluation of an Omni directional wheelchair, which has a small size and can move easily in narrow spaces. In order to evaluate the implemented wheelchair, we carried out some experiments and discussed some implementation and application issues. The experimental results show that the implemented wheelchair in general works properly, but its still needs improvements.