STABILITY ANALYSIS OF MANUAL WHEELCHAIR PROPULSION

K. Vrongistinos
1
, Y. T. Wang
2
, D. D. Pascoe
3
, Y. S. Hwang
1
, and D. B. Marghitu
3
1
Motor Behavior Lab, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana
2
Biomechanics Lab, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia
3
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Email: dvrongistinos@selu.edu

INTRODUCTION

Manual wheelchair propulsion (MWP)
has been associated with cumulative
trauma disorders. However there is only
one study (Boninger, et al. 1997) that
examined the stability of the movement
during MWP. The purpose of this study
is to develop an analytic technique to
quantify stability during MWP based on
Floquet theory. A technique that has
been successfully used for gait analysis
(Hurmuzlu & Basdogan, 1994).

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS

The analytical method to quantify the
stability during MWP is based on
Floquet theory, which is used to
investigate the stability of periodic
motions. One can apply the Floquet
theory with numerical data with the help
of Poincar maps.

The motion of the system evolves in the
six-dimensional space

s = {q
p
, q
q
, q
r
, q'
p
, q'
q
, q'
r
} (1)

where q
p
, q
q
, q
r
are three generalized
coordinates that dictate the motion, and
q'
p
, q'
q
, q'
r
are their first derivatives.
Periodic motions are characterized by
closed orbits or in the case of
experimental data near-closed orbits.
The Poincar map for q
p
is constructed at
different times (t
1
through t
n
) which are
integer multipliers of period T.
The first return map for q
p
is the plot of
q
p
with itself with a lag of one. The
iteration points that are close together
should be positioned near the 45
o
line
because the motion is periodic, with
identical successive trajectories
coinciding on the 45
o
line.

Figure 1: Equilibrium points and first
return map for generalized coordinate q
p


The mathematical representation is

s
i+1
= f (s
i
)
(2)
where s
i
and

s
i+1
are the state space
vector at two successive Poincar
sections. If we consider the equilibrium
point s
e
and define y
i
as the perturbation
vector then we have

s
e
+ y
i+1
= f (s
e
+ y
i
) (3)

y
i+1
= J y
i
(4)

by linearizing the map f about the
equilibrium point and by retaining only
the linear terms. Matrix J is a Jacobean


matrix. The eigenvalues of this matrix
are the Floquet multipliers that usually
are complex numbers. A system is (a)
stable when all eigenvalue are less than
one, (b) marginally stable when at least
one eigenvalue equals one, and (c)
unstable when at least one eigenvalue
equals more than one. In our case J is a
6x6 constant coefficient matrix and the
return map is constructed where the
trajectory intercepts a given plane.

METHODS

In order to validate the method a
participant, experienced with wheelchair
propulsion, pushed a common
wheelchair on a stationary training roller
two times for 36 s. One time he pushed
at the 40% and another time at the 80%
of his maximum speed that was
previously measured with a 15s sprint
test. Kinematics data were collected with
a Watsmart system and the markers were
placed on top of the second
metacarpophalangeal joint (end
effector), the ulnar styloid, lateral
epicondyle, and greater tubercle.

The end effector's marker linear position
and velocities where used for the
analysis. The return map was
reconstructed where the x coordinate
intercepted into a plane vertical to the
vector v
p
=[1,0,0]
T
with origin at the
mean value of x. Seven cycles from each
trial between the 10s and 20s were used
for each condition.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The results showed that all the
eigenvalues at the 40% speed condition
where inside the unit circle (stable);
whereas three eigenvalues at the 80%
speed were outside the unit circle
(unstable). The two maximum complex
modulus for each condition were 0.8990
and 1.1916 respectively.
-1 0 1
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
40%
Real
I
m
a
g
-1 0 1
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
80%
Real

Figure 2: Left the 40% condition with
all the eigenvalues within the unit circle
and right the 80% condition with three
eigenvalues outside the unit circle

The stability of the end effector is
determined from both position
consistency and velocity consistency.
Theoretically the stability analysis in one
section can be generalized for the whole
cycle. Thus with this method it is
possible to detect movement instabilities
that maybe the result of an underling
injury or deficiencies in technique.

SUMMARY

In this study we presented an analytical
method to quantify movement stability
during manual wheelchair propulsion
based on Floquet theory.

REFERENCES

Hurmuzlu Y., & Basdogan C. (1994).
On the measurement of dynamic
stability of human locomotion. J.
Biomech. Eng., 116(1), 30-36.

Boninger, et al. (1997). Three
dimensional pushrim forces during two
speeds of wheelchair propulsion. Am. J.
of Phys. Med. Reh., 15, 420-427.