Obstacles such as ramps, steps, and irregular floor surfaces are commonly encountered in homes, offices, and other public spaces. These obstacles frequently limit the daily activities of people who use mobility aids. For this purpose, this study solves a slope minimization problem for personal mobility aids. As a solution approach, a gradient-reduction scheme is proposed, which allows existing mobility aids to reduce the required horizontal forces and vibrations when ascending steps while maintaining their wheel sizes. Practically, an axle-transitional wheel mechanism realizing the gradient-reduction computation model is established, and its step-ascending wheel prototype is developed. Specifically, since the proposed wheel enables integration into existing personal mobility-assisting devices, two functional roles, such as rolling and step ascending, can be used. The developed step-climbing wheel can help the users of mobility aids mitigate the aforementioned limitations. The physical and mental burdens of caregivers and medical staff can also be reduced by making the users of the gradient-reduction scheme more self-sufficient. This study provides details on the axle-transitional wheel mechanism and its step-ascending wheel prototype. The findings are analyzed mathematically, and their functionality is verified through extensive experiments using a prototype.

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