Use of Multilevel Converters in Light Vehicles of Orthopedic Rehabilitation

With the development of technologies the life of ordinary people has improved, and people became more active and mobile. According to World Health Organization, there are approximately 200 million people, who are suffering from some sort of disability resulting in difficulties in functioning. New technological achievements should be used to make the life of disabled people more comfortable and to provide the integration of disabled people in economic and social life less difficult. As an example of such technological device can be assisting powered wheelchair. Power electronic converter, which plays role of electrical driver for the electrical machine of such wheelchair is essential part of electrical system of the wheelchair. There can be various alternatives of topologies for this converter, however, multilevel converters with independent voltage source are worth noticing, as this topology provides the ability of natural battery balancing. This paper is devoted to the development of the testbench and experimental verification of single phase modular multilevel converter with independent voltage sources.