A low-cost autonomous wheelchair navigation system

电动轮椅经常被开给行动不便的人。对于因脊髓损伤、肌萎缩侧索硬化症(ALS)和多发性硬化症(MS)而导致上身精细运动控制障碍的一部分用户，无法使用标准操纵杆界面操作电动轮椅。这样的用户必须改为依赖其他类型的辅助控制设备(例如，sip-and-puff开关)--这些设备通常极难使用，导致移动性降低和生活质量大大降低。 与Simcoe康复服务(SHS)公司合作，拟议的研究项目将开发一种低成本的自主轮椅导航系统。SHS是为居住在安大略省的严重残疾人提供职业治疗服务的领先提供商。拟议的系统将使用廉价的商用现成传感器，如Microsoft Kinect深度相机，并将通过单一命令在家庭和办公室环境中实现点对点导航。这将极大地提高轮椅使用者的机动性：超过65,000名患有脊髓损伤、肌萎缩侧索硬化症和多发性硬化症的加拿大人可能会从这种类型的导航系统中受益。

Electric wheelchairs are frequently prescribed to individuals who have substantial mobility challenges. For a subset of users with upper-body fine motor control impairments due to spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and multiple sclerosis (MS), it is impossible to operate an electric wheelchair using the standard joystick interface. Such users must instead rely on other types of assistive control devices (for example, sip-and-puff switches) - these devices are typically extremely difficult to use, resulting in degraded mobility and a substantially deteriorated quality of life. In partnership with Simcoe Habilitation Services (SHS), Inc., the proposed research project will develop a low-cost autonomous wheelchair navigation system. SHS is a leading provider of occupational therapy services for severely disabled individuals living in the province of Ontario. The proposed system will use inexpensive commercial, off-the-shelf sensors such as the Microsoft Kinect depth camera, and will enable point-to-point navigation in home and office environments with a single command. This will dramatically enhance the mobility of a large population of wheelchair users: more than 65,000 Canadians with spinal cord injuries, ALS, and MS, may benefit from this type of navigation system.