양방향 수동 휠체어와 기존 휠체어의 추진 동작 비교 분석

This work provides the biomechanical evaluations of a maunal wheelchair with a bi-directional driving system. The new propulsion strategy can be accomplished by employing a special gear system that converts the oscillatory motion of a handrim into the unidirectional output motion of a wheel. A main feature of the forward · backward propulsion is to supply continuous driving torque without break. Motion analysis has been performed through the two-dimensional image processing for measuring the kinematic properties of the upper arm and fore arm. Then, the inverse dynamics analysis has been done for obtaining the joint torques, the handrim forces and the output power. Results show that the output power by the bi-directional propulsion is almost twice as much as that by conventional propulsion. Also, the new propulsion is expected to reduce the fatigues and injuries at arm joints by employing mort muscle groups for movement. In conclusion, the bi-directional propulsion can greatly improve the performances of manual wheelchairs by providing better mobility as well as by guaranteeing several advantages from a biomechanical viewpoint. Future development of a manual wheelchair optimized for the bi-directional propulsion will further improve the propulsion performances.