1. COOPERATIVE STEP-CLIMBING METHOD USING A WHEELCHAIR AND A PARTNER ROBOT

Authors: EIJI NAKANO , HIDETOSHI IKEDA , HIKARU KANDA , NOBUYUKI YAMASHIMA

Abstract: This report discusses a method of cooperative step climbing for a wheelchair and a wheeled robot that has dual manipulators. In moving over a step, the wheelchair and the robot are linked together and the tilt of the vehicle climbing the step is controlled by the difference in speeds between the two vehicles. During this process, some of the manipulator joints are controlled passively and the upper-arm link is pressed against the front of the robot body to control the amount of passive rotation about the shoulder joint, and thus supports the motion of the wheelchair. Similarly, when the robot climbs a step, the upper-arm link is pressed against the rear of the wheelchair. We connected a teleoperation system for the robot through an intranet, and the experimental results show that this method is effective.

Keywords: step climbing, wheelchair, wheeled robot, cooperation