An Advanced Patient Lift and Transfer Device for the Home

The home lift, position, and rehabilitation (HLPR) chair has a unique design and novel capabilities when compared with conventional powered wheelchairs. In addition to mobility, it provides lift and can transfer patients. Even though medical devices are developing at a rapid pace today, an aspect that is often overlooked in these developments is adherence to “rider safety standards.” The contributions of this paper are threefold: (i) novel design of a lift and transfer system, (ii) experiments and results toward improved stability test designs that include HLPR-type devices to meet rider safety standards, and (iii) autonomous navigation and control based on nonlinear system theory of dynamic feedback linearization. Stability experimental results show promise for multipurpose patient mobility, lift, and transfer devices such as HLPR. A method for autonomous maneuvers was tested in simulation and experiments. We also expect the autonomous or semi-autonomous mobility mode of the vehicle to be useful for riders who have potential neural and cognitive impairments.