REU 2001 – Modeling the Dynamics of a Motorized Wheelchair

The iBot is a motorized wheel-chair, designed by DEKA, that sits on two axles with equally sized wheels. The iBot is able to perform tasks such as climbing stairs, and going over curbs. The wheelchair is also able to transfer into a 2-wheel mode, with one axle on top of the other. Our job is to model the system’s transition from two wheel to four wheel mode. We are using methods such as Hamilton’s Principle, dynamics, and time-optimal control.