Effect of Tire Pressure to Physical Workload at Operating a Manual Wheelchair

It is often experienced that low tire pressure of the wheelchair not only increases running resistance, but also reduces parking brake performance. In this study, the required driving forces for different tire pressures were experimentally measured and evaluated. It was indicated from the result that the wheelchair with proper tire pressure could be run with less workload of wheelchair-user. Then it was also indicated that the wheelchair with a lower tire pressure needed more workload of wheelchair-user even on hard level surface.