Coordinated motion of a new staircase climbing wheelchair with increased passenger comfort

This paper describes the mechanical devices, the movements and the trajectory generation of a novel wheelchair prototype capable of climbing staircases. The key feature of the mechanical design is the use of two decoupled mechanisms for each axle, one used to negotiate steps, and the other to position the axle with respect to the chair to accommodate the overall slope. This decoupling makes many different climbing strategies possible, the...