Design and Fabrication of Bidirectional Electronic Driven Wheelchair

O.O.E.  Ajibola; U.  Iyonmahan

O.O.E. Ajibola Department of Systems Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
U. Iyonmahan Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria

Keywords: Electronically driven wheelchair, bidirectional motion, low-cost, disabled, mentally competent

Abstract

Locomotion is a problem for the disabled the world over. The use of manual wheel-chairs, which are common in developing countries can result in inflicted shoulder pains, stresses on internal organs and cardiac problems. The electronically driven wheelchair (EDW) that are available in developed nations provides succor for this class of people. However, this technology is not available in developing countries. This work was carried-out to domesticate this technology to make it available for investors involvement and ultimately affordable to cater for the growing
population of the disabled in Nigeria. The EDW was fabricated using two rear wheel motors, two 12V DC deep cycle batteries, a solar panel module to enhance the batteries performance for outdoor usage, frames made from galvanized steel and a control module. The EDW has a joystick for control of bidirectional movement. It has an additional advantage that the batteries can also be charged with a 220V AC source. The cost of materials and components fabrication of this EDW is N99,900. The performance of the first version of EDW in the tested environment showed that the technology can be localized with further improvement in its radial motion.

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