Safety-Based Speed Control of a Wheelchair Using Robust Adaptive Model Predictive Control

Journal article, 2023

Electric-powered wheelchairs play a vital role in ensuring accessibility for individuals with mobility impairments. The design of controllers for tracking tasks must prioritize the safety of wheelchair operation across various scenarios and for a diverse range of users. In this study, we propose a safety-oriented speed tracking control algorithm for wheelchair systems that accounts for external disturbances and uncertain parameters at the dynamic level. We employ a set-membership approach to estimate uncertain parameters online in deterministic sets. Additionally, we present a model predictive control scheme with real-time adaptation of the system model and controller parameters to ensure safety-related constraint satisfaction during the tracking process. This proposed controller effectively guides the wheelchair speed toward the desired reference while maintaining safety constraints. In cases where the reference is inadmissible and violates constraints, the controller can navigate the system to the vicinity of the nearest admissible reference. The efficiency of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated through high-fidelity speed tracking results from two tasks involving both admissible and inadmissible references.