Automated Control of Motorized Wheelchairs

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Current powered wheelchairs, although improving their users mobility, still present considerable restrictions. External assistance is still required to perform simple tasks, such as moving the wheelchair closer to its user, to board a wheelchair on a special transport, or to control the wheelchair movement (users suffering from limited hand-control dexterity). Related with this, there are reports of a considerable number of accidents and resulting injuries, for instance in the operations to board a motorized wheelchair into a special transport. Eightfold Technologies' advanced prototype of the SmartChair platform has been built on a palm-sized computer, custom control board and using wireless technology to connect to the user through a smartphone. The SmartChair is a plug and play controller which can be attached to existing powered wheelchairs. The addition of several sensing technologies and related developed control systems will allow powered wheelchairs to perform many tasks safely and autonomously. The SmartChair will have the ability to follow various tracks to different locations, based on predefined paths, which can be learnt and afterwards replicated. Not only automatic operation will be developed within this project, but also voice command features that will help the control of the movement of the wheelchair and the execution of pre-defined tasks. This project will enable Eightfold to be the first to offer these systems in the world.