Changes in inertia and effect on turning effort across different wheelchair configurations.

When executing turning maneuvers, manual wheelchair users must overcome the rotational inertia of the wheelchair system. Differences in wheelchair rotational inertia can result in increases in torque required to maneuver, resulting in greater propulsion effort and stress on the shoulder joints. The inertias of various configurations of an ultralightweight wheelchair were measured using a rotational inertia-measuring device.

Partitioning kinetic energy during freewheeling wheelchair maneuvers.

This paper describes a systematic method to partition the kinetic energy (KE) of a free-wheeling wheelchair. An ultralightweight rigid frame wheelchair was instrumented with two axle-mounted encoders and data acquisition equipment to accurately measure the velocity of the drive wheels. A mathematical model was created combining physical specifications and geometry of the wheelchair and its components.

Test method for empirically determining inertial properties of manual wheelchairs.

The iMachine is a spring-loaded turntable used to measure inertial properties of irregularly shaped rigid bodies, specifically manual wheelchairs. We used a Newton-Euler approach to calculate wheelchair mass and center of mass (CM) location from static force measurements using load cells. We determined the moment of inertia about the vertical axis from the natural frequency of the system in simple harmonic motion.