The power assisted cart is composed of a steel frame with wooden platform that is mounted on top of two motor wheels and two casters. All controls operational components (battery and sensors) are mounted underneath or on the sides of the cart. Lastly, the control column is fixed to the wood plate with a flanged ball bearing.

The power assisted cart uses powerful hub motors electrically designed to yield high torque at low (or even zero) speeds. Combined with high resolution (90 tick) quadrature optical encoders, we can achieve very high digital control performance. This allows the cart to be aware of its position, speed, and acceleration at all times magnifying the user’s transportation capabilities.

The cart also employs a variety of other sensors to enhance the user experience. Strain gauges are used to measure the applied user force allowing for zero moving component input both reducing cost and improving intuitiveness. Range finders, accelerometers, and gyros guard the potentially high transport mass and user from incoming obstacles and path inclinations.

Mechanical as well as electrical hardware is what makes the existence of the cart possible, but software is what makes it practical. The cart employs high performance custom tuned discretized control feedback from all inputs to maximize performance, safety, and intuitiveness. With very few moving parts, we can ensure low latency between user inputs and cart outputs. The software also monitors all sensors for behavior abnormalities smoothing out any sudden change in inputs averaged over a period of time yielding the smoothest possible output while maintaining acceptable responsiveness.

The software is capable of leveraging the hardware aspects of the cart to empower the user allowing one to safely and comfortably transport resources he or she would not otherwise be able to.