Robotic wheelchair using a high accuracy visual marker LentiBar and its application to door crossing navigation

In this paper, a robotic wheelchair using only a pan-tilt-zoom camera is proposed for developing a robotic system which enables a user to navigate in complex environment at low cost. For realizing the proposed system, a high accuracy visual marker, LentiBar which is capable of achieving a high level of precision in positioning and orienting a robotic wheelchair is utilized and its application to door crossing for a robotic wheelchair is presented. Since the visual marker is attached on the top of the target door through which the wheelchair is going to pass, the typical problems for achieving geometric features of the environment can be easily addressed. Door crossing navigation methods are also explained, which enable automatic and hybrid navigation of the robotic wheelchair. Finally, experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed navigation method and the robotic wheelchair system.