A motorized and easy-docking wheelchair drive for persons with lower-limb disabilities

The aim of this study is to develop a driving module that can be attached to a manual wheelchair with an easy-docking mechanism to assist persons with lower-limb disabilities. The driving module consists of a motorized driving mechanism, embedded control boards, and an easy-docking mechanism, which can together be used to convert a manual wheelchair to an electrical wheelchair. The core of the easy-docking mechanism comprises the snatch locks and yokes, with which the driving module can be attached in front of a manual wheelchair and firmly fixed on the wheelchair frame. After the attachment, the wheelchair can be operated like a motorcycle. A brusless DC (BLDC) motor and a wheel dragged the wheelchair, and it was controlled by micro-controllers (MCUs). The MCU determined the motor input based on the throttles, a hall sensor, a brake, a battery, and limit switches. The current driving status was displayed via an LCD panel that was activated by a cluster board. The driving module was tested to evaluate the performances and the results showed that the developed system was helpful in increasing the mobility of persons with lower-limb disabilities.