Analysis of in-wheel motorized wheelchair cornering performance with electro-mechanical co-simulation

• Published in: International journal of precision engineering and manufacturing Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 501 - 507
• Main Authors: Song, Jin-Seop, Baek, Myung-Jin, Noh, Hong-Joon, Cho, Seung-Hyeon, Mok, Hyung-Soo, Kim, Chang-Wan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Korean Society for Precision Engineering 01.03.2015
• Subjects: Engineering; Industrial and Production Engineering; Materials Science; In-wheel motor; Control; Electric wheelchair; Co-simulation; Direct yaw-moment control; Multi-body dynamics
• ISSN: 2234-7593; 2005-4602
• DOI: 10.1007/s12541-015-0068-3

As our society is aging, studies on the transport means of the elderly are being actively conducted. The present work is a study for developing a control algorithm for an in-wheel motorized wheelchair equipped with an electric driving motor, which is an environmentally friendly device, on a two-axis wheel and applying the developed algorithm to a multi-body dynamics analysis model and an actual electric wheelchair in order to analyze the effect thereof. The goal of the control algorithm under development is to control the in-wheel driving motor in order to track a more accurate direction and prevent runway. In the present study, we suggested a method for improving cornering stability by controlling yaw moment generated by the torque difference of the yaw rate, which the rate of rotation in the yaw direction through controlling the in-wheel motors installed in each driving wheel and the turning wheel as the control objects. In order to verify the suggested algorithm, we conducted an electrical-mechanical system co-simulation by interworking with a multi-body dynamics analysis system model and applied this to an actual in-wheel electric wheelchair.