A joint movement detection device and system is presented which is responsive to elbow or wrist movements during use of a manually-propelled wheelchair to enable coordination of assistive motor energization with a user's efforts at self-motivating the manually-propelled wheelchair during driving, steering, and braking of the wheelchair. Several embodiments are provided which help to ensure user-intended assistive motor output that is responsive to movement of the joint over which the device is worn.

A conveyance to carry humans, such as a wheelchair, is described having levers on each side of the wheelchair that are manually moved forward and backward to propel the conveyance. The user is able to shift into forward, reverse or neutral, brake, and change mechanical advantage (gear ratio), all this without removing the user's hands from the drive levers.

The presently disclosure describes a motion assistance system for a wheelchair, for example, a powered drive wheel system that can continually drive a wheelchair in a circular or elliptical path. The motion assistance system comprises a mounting mechanism attachable to one or more structural elements of the wheelchair, and a drive linkage pivotable with respect to the mounting mechanism. A drive wheel can be mounted to an end of the drive linkage such that the drive wheel contacts the ground when installed on the wheelchair. The drive wheel comprises a plurality of lateral rollers positioned radially about the circumference of the power drive wheel. The lateral rollers can rotate about an axis tangential to the circumference of the drive wheel in order to facilitate driving the wheelchair in a radial direction.

A mobile support such as a stretcher includes a left rear rolling element and a right rear rolling element. The support also includes a sensor system adapted to sense displacement force applied to the support, and a deceleration system. Provided the bed is moving in a forward direction, machine readable instructions executed by a processor cause the deceleration system to apply a decelerating influence to selected members of the set of rolling elements in response to the sensed displacement force in order to assist braking and steering maneuvers.

A wheelchair guardian operating handle control system and method are provided. A wheelchair guardian operating handle control system configured to operate a wheelchair capable of moving by receiving power using an electric drive system, according to an embodiment, includes: a pressure acquisition unit that is mounted on the rear of the wheelchair and acquires a control pressure, which is a pressure applied by a guardian; a control information generation unit that processes the control pressure to determine a moving speed and generates control information for controlling wheels provided on the wheelchair according to the moving speed; and a wheel driving unit that acquires the control information and respectively controls the speeds of the wheels provided on opposite sides of the wheelchair according to the control information to perform movement of the wheelchair.

Disclosed is a system for controlling a mobility device including a processor configured for a workflow process configured for filtering user commands based on a status of the mobility device and defining filtered commands. A mobility device command process is configured for issuing commands based on the filtered commands. The mobility device responds to the commands that are configured for controlling moving the mobility device.

A motion-based push activation power assist system for manual wheelchairs. The system uses motion-based measurements to determine when the user applies a push to the wheelchair handrims and brakes with the handrims. The push recognition activates a drive system that provides an assistive driving force-pulse to the wheelchair to reduce the demand on the user during propulsion. The brake recognition deactivates the power assist. The provided power assist is proportional to the sensed push and can be modulated to different proportional settings.

An occupant support system includes a base frame, an upper frame raisable relative to the base frame, and a deck supported by the upper frame configured to support an occupant. A plurality of casters including left and right side casters supports the base frame and are configured to facilitate movement of the occupant support system. Electrically-driven deceleration systems are configured to provide a force to the left and right side casters. Left and right push handles that each have a grip portion are configured to be gripped by a caregiver to provide the movement. A control system is configured to cause the electrically-driven deceleration systems to apply forces selectively to the left and right side casters. The control system includes a processor and a memory that includes instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the control system to selectively apply the forces to the electrically-driven deceleration systems.

A motion-based push activation power assist system for manual wheelchairs. The system uses motion-based measurements to determine when the user applies a push to the wheelchair handrims and brakes with the handrims. The push recognition activates a drive system that provides an assistive driving force-pulse to the wheelchair to reduce the demand on the user during propulsion. The brake recognition deactivates the power assist. The provided power assist is proportional to the sensed push and can be modulated to different proportional settings.

An electrical power assistance device designed to be removably coupled to existing transport wheelchairs to provide electric power to aid in transportation of a person sitting in the wheelchair, while being detachable to allow the transport chair to fold up for easy storage in a car or other vehicle. The electrical power assistance device includes a motor powered by a rechargeable battery, where the motor drives an internal shaft which rotates a pair of friction wheels. A clutch, provided on a separate axle coupled to the friction wheels by eccentric disks, allows the friction wheels to engage or disengage with the rear wheels of the transport wheelchair.