Concept design of personal mobility vehicle

A one person intelligent personal mobility vehicle is proposed in the light of Japan's ageing society. The vehicle concept design was conducted based on the Japanese certification requirements for electric wheelchairs. Such a vehicle must be able to handle difficult surfaces such as curb drops and rises, and railroad crossings. It must be able to move through the crowd at supermarkets. Also, users need to use it for extended periods of time. Therefore, the characteristics to be achieved are as follows: good running stability on challenging roads, omnidirectional ambient object detection (OAOD) system to prevent collision, and a long battery life. Two new mechanisms were designed to achieve (a) good running stability and (b) accurate object detection. Both were extensively examined and tested.