Lateral disturbance rejection and one hand propulsion control of a power assisting wheelchair

Many controls of a power assisting wheelchair have been proposed for the forward direction. But, there are not so many researches on the lateral control designs. This paper copes with two problems that can easily happen in wheelchair driving: keeping the wheelchair straight despite disturbances in the lateral direction and driving with only one hand. Lateral disturbance rejection control design should be different from the forward disturbance attenuation control. Our control design takes this point into account, so it can offer excellent lateral support. This lateral control is also related with one hand propulsion of the wheelchair. Changing the extent of controls can achieve the one hand propulsion. That extent will be decided based on the user's intention, and that intention can be estimated using a phase plane. These control designs are experimented.