Test Bench for Analysis of Harmful Vibrations Induced to Wheelchair Users

Abstract

In this paper, a test bench for analysis of harmful vibrations that can be transmitted by manual wheelchair ti its user is presented. The vibration generating device developed in the laboratory and sensors positioning are described. Vibration measurements were carried out using four tri-axis MEMS accelerometers and a position sensor. Experimental data were noisy, so they were first filtered before acceleration amplitude can be assessed using two methods that we propose: a so-called 'cyclogram method' and 'DFT principal peak signal magnitude' on the other hand. The second one is faster and results showed that the prototype developed in the laboratory can provide harmful vibrations in 2-10Hz frequency range and can be used to check the vibration transmissibility of wheelchair.