Design and implementation of a test setup for electric mobility scooter for the disabled

Abstract

In this study, a test setup was designed for three- and/or four-wheeled electric mobility scooter models used by disabled or old people. This system is composed of a test platform that enables measurement of vehicular velocity, a data acquisition card, and an interface prepared in the C# program. Using the data acquisition card that was designed, seven quantities, namely, battery and motor currents, battery and motor terminal voltages, wheel speed in revolution per minute, and ambient and motor temperatures, were measured instantaneously during the test procedure and transferred to a computer via a USB device. Using these data that were transferred, motor speed in revolution per minute, torque generated by the motor, motor shaft power, motor and driver efficiency, instantaneous velocity of the vehicle, and total distance covered information obtained from the moment the vehicle began to be used were computed in real time throughout the experiment in the interface prepared in the C#, and their graphs were drawn and recorded. Thus, the faults in the battery, motor, or driver of electric mobility scooters became easily detectable in tests conducted under various conditions such as different ambient temperatures, different user weights, and roads with different slopes.