Abstract
In Japan, lightweight and easy-to-fold baby carriages are commonly used because a parent has to hold both the baby and its carriage while ascending or descending a flight of stairs. Since families commuting by private automobiles are increasing, there is a demand for carriages with high functionality. In this study, an intelligent baby carriage equipped with an advanced electro-hybrid power assist system that uses in-wheel-type motors is experimentally developed. This system assists the parent in lifting the carriage onto a sidewalk by detecting the edge of the sidewalk using an ultrasonic distance sensor. The carriage also has the following features: a tilt control system that keeps the basket in a horizontal position even on a slope, and a heartbeat simulator that provides comfort to the baby in the basket by simulating the heartbeat of the parent. The effectiveness of the proposed carriage is confirmed by performing experiments.
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T. Kawashima, Study on Intelligent Baby Carriage (Development of the pendulum type cage and the assist system), CD-ROM Proc. of Third Asian Conference on Multibody Dynamics, JSME, Tokyo, JAPAN (2006) No. A00646.
T. Kawashima, Study on the Internet transmission of the comfortable fluctuation (Development of the Internet transmission system for the heartbeat rhythm), Proceedings of 2005 Symposium on Environmental Engineering, JSME, Muroran, JAPAN (2005) 65–68 (in Japanese).
T. Kawashima, Study on the Internet transmission of the comfortable fluctuation (2nd Report: Development of portable heartbeat rhythm reproduction equipment), Proceedings of 2006 Symposium on Environmental Engineering, JSME, Tokyo, JAPAN (2006) 23–26 (in Japanese).
T. Kawashima, Development of Active Rocking Chair with Changing Swing According to Heartbeat Fluctuation, JSME International Journal, Ser.C, 49(3) (2006) 814–820.
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Takeshi Kawashima received his doctorate in engineering from Keio University, Japan, in 1986. Dr. Kawashima has been a faculty member at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Atsugi, Japan, since 1986, and is currently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research interests lie in the field of motion and vibration control for nonlinear systems.
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Kawashima, T. Study on intelligent baby carriage with power assist system and comfortable basket. J Mech Sci Technol 23, 974–979 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0324-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0324-5