Power Management and System Integration of an Electrical Wheelchair with a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

• Main Authors: Yu-Shu Chiang, 蔣育書
• Other Authors: 王富正
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/33975344352617033346

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 機械工程學研究所 === 99 === This thesis proposes control and integration of a fuel-cell powered wheelchair. The study was carried out in three steps: the fuel-cell control, power management, and system integration. First, we apply multivariable robust control strategies to a 500W proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system, which has inputs of air and hydrogen and outputs of stack voltage, to provide steady electrical power. Second, we design a serial power-train for the electric wheelchair. The power system consists of the 500W PEMFC, two 6.9Ah LiFePO4 battery sets, and two 300W electric motors. The motors are directly driven by the battery sets in order to avoid damaging the PEMFC by rapidly varying loads. And the battery sets are charged by the PEMFC when their capacities drop to a certain level. From the experimental results, the power management system is successful in providing uninterrupted electricity to the wheelchair. Lastly, we apply a motor control card and a joystick to regulate the motions of the wheelchair motors. Then we integrate the aforementioned sub-systems and demonstrate the effectiveness of the system by experiments.