When I had decided on this project, the next step after finding the voice recognition module was to find a power wheel chair. So, first a check on Ebay, and finding none close to me and or at a price I was happy with, I resorted t Crag's List, and found one for $100 with dead batteries. I took a chance and purchased it.
Lucky, I have a station wagon, and with help of the seller, leveraged it into my car and drove it home. I then found a set of batteries for $129 including shipping, and ordered them. The weekend after they arrived, I spent an hour removing the old batteries and installing the new ones. With trepidation, came the moment of truth -I moved the control joystick, and nothing happened. Quick - check the motors - I hope the brushes are good - they all seemed OK, so reconnect everything and retry - I held the joystick for a few seconds, rather than the quick initial blip, and the chair moved - I forgot that it has a ramp-up function to control acceleration!