Design and Control of Seat Mechanism for Multi-postures Controllable Wheelchair

This paper presents a design of seat mechanism for multi-postures controllable wheelchair. The possible seat postures are reclining, tilting, standing, which are controlled by four seat mechanisms using four linear actuators. The seat mechanisms designed in this study are reclining, tilting, forward-tilting, and elevation mechanism. Three postures except standing are controlled by corresponding mechanisms, but the standing posture is performed by combination of the reclining and the forward-tilting mechanism. Posture control system is composed of PID controllers and a planner to determine a feasible posture based on a posture transition diagram. Simulation results show that the seat mechanism and its control system are applicable to a multi-postures controllable wheelchair.