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. 2023 Feb 7:10:20556683231155198.
doi: 10.1177/20556683231155198. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

A 2D lightweight instrumented wheel for assessing wheelchair functionality/activity

Reto Togni  1 , Manuel Müller  1 , Stefan Plüss  1 , William R Taylor  1 , Roland Zemp  1
Affiliations

A 2D lightweight instrumented wheel for assessing wheelchair functionality/activity

Reto Togni et al. J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. .

Abstract

Introduction: Force measurement wheels are essential instruments for analysing manual wheelchair propulsion. Existing solutions are heavy and bulky, influence propulsion biomechanics, and are limited to confined laboratory environments. In this paper, a novel design for a compact and lightweight measurement wheel is presented and statically validated.

Methods: Four connectors between the push-rim and wheel-rim doubled as force sensors to allow the calculation of tangential and radial forces as well as the point of force application. For validation, increasing weights were hung on the push-rim at known positions. Resulting values were compared against pre-determined force components.

Results: The implemented prototype weighed 2.1 kg and was able to transmit signals to a mobile recording device at 140 Hz. Errors in forces at locations of propulsive pushes were in the range up to ±3.1 N but higher at the frontal extreme. Tangential force components were most accurate.

Conclusion: The principle of instrumenting the joints between push-rim and wheel-rim shows promise for assessing wheelchair propulsion in daily life.

Keywords: Manual wheelchair; activities of daily living; assessment; force measurement; human factors; instrumentation; kinetics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Components of the lightweight instrumented wheelchair wheel: A standard wheelchair wheel (1) and a titanium push-rim (2) were connected directly by sensor units (3) based on custom-made 2D load cells (4). A microcontroller and rechargeable battery were mounted to the central hub (5). Wheel rotation was measured by a rotary Hall sensor (6) placed over the tip of the wheel axle that was equipped with a magnet (7) for reference.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Load cell arrangement and essential parameters calculated from the force signals, where point of force application is the point of force application of the hand force on the push-rim.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Known weights were hung on the push-rim at known positions for static validation of the lightweight instrumented wheelchair wheel.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Implementation of the lightweight instrumented wheelchair wheel based on the principle of instrumenting the connector between push-rim.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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