A new type of omnidirectional wheelchair robot for walking support and power assistance

Up to now, many robotic aids for the elderly's walking support or the disabled's walking rehabilitation are reported, and numerous electrical-powered wheelchairs are developed. In this paper, a new kind of omnidirectional wheelchair typed robot is developed. The robot not only can accomplish the walking support or walking rehabilitation as the elderly or the disabled walk, but also can realize the power assistance for a caregiver when he/she pushes the robot to move. The basic structure of the robot is described, and the omnidirectional mobility of the robot is analyzed. Further, an admittance based human-machine interaction controller is introduced for power assistance. Experiments are implemented, and the experimental results show that the pushing force can be reduced and well controlled arbitrarily as designed. The development purposes of the robot for walking support and power assistance are achieved.