A key aspect of Spletzer's chair will be making it affordable. He points out that Freedom Sciences is able to sell its ATRS because that product's cost is comparable with that of purchasing a van or SUV and revamping it to allow a person to drive while seated in the wheelchair, as most wheelchair drivers now do. To get beyond the prototype phase with their smart wheelchair, Spletzer and his team will have to figure out how to get it to move autonomously without having to rely on the expensive LiDAR system that Little Ben used but rather on a combination of lower cost LiDAR and sonar sensors.
Of course, Spletzer and his colleagues are not the only ones who have come up with the idea of a smart wheelchair. A paper published in the December 1999 IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering describes a NavChair Assistive Wheelchair Navigation System (pdf) developed at the time to reduce the "cognitive and physical requirements of operating a power wheelchair for people with wide ranging impairments that limit their access to powered mobility." The NavChair was based on a commercial wheelchair system with the addition of a DOS-based computer system, ultrasonic sensors and an interface module interposed between the joystick and power unit .
Two more recent projects share nearly the same name: The Robochair project at the University of the Basque Country's Laboratory of Human–Computer Interaction for Special Needs in Spain is creating an autonomous navigation system that can be added to commercially available powered wheelchairs. In 2007 researchers at the University of Essex in England pursued a similar project called RoboChair (pdf).
Yet, whereas others have demonstrated that smart wheelchairs can work, they have yet to make them affordable for the large population of users (2.7 million people age 15 and older in the U.S. alone). "The ultimate goal is to develop a smart-chair system capable of unprecedented levels of autonomy while still being commercially viable," Spletzer says.
View a slide show featuring images of the prototype chair, a LiDAR map and Little Ben
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5 Comments
Add CommentI'm not being rude, but, with as high as this appears to be, once in it--how does the victim er, patient get out?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisREPEL?
Although this is a very important project, but I am amazed that the research is not focused on really improving manoevurability of the wheelchair....castors are useless especially when going over uneven ground or inclines. Users find it difficult to control or go in the desired direction. 20 years ago I developed a 4 wheel drive, steering wheelchair which solved this problem but could not get it in production.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSurely in this high tech environment this should be a given....If anyone is interested I still have some images of a model of a the four wheel drive/steering wheelchair
My work aims to push the envelope in wheelchair autonomy," Spletzer says. "It will not be limited to structured indoor environments. Instead, it investigates the much more difficult problem of autonomous operations in unstructured environments outdoors.
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<a href="http://www.backup-sensor.com" rel="dofollow">Parking Sensors</a>
Before one year i was also in the same position. At that time for getting victim what steps do you follow. Can you please share me the information.
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Paul
<a href="http://www.backup-sensor.com">Parking Sensors</a>
Before one year i was also in the same position. At that time for getting victim what steps do you follow. Can you please share me the information.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this................
Paul
[url="http://www.backup-sensor.com"rel="dofollow"]Parking Sensors[/url]