Motion control of intelligent wheelchair based on sitting postures

With the increase in the number of senior citizens and disabled persons, there is a growing demand for human-friendly wheelchairs as mobility aids. Wheelchair is often controlled by hands via joysticks, so it is inconvenient and difficult for persons in wheelchairs to play sports. To solve this problem, this paper presents a method of motion control based on sitting postures, including direction and speed hand-free control. The high-speed analog data acquisition system provides enough information according to the sitting postures of the wheelchair users, where four force sensors are installed under the seat. The intelligent wheelchair control system will calculate gravity centre of human body and decide to move in which direction and provide proper speed to control the motors. At the same time, it shows the dynamic moving directions and creates a real time path map of the intelligent wheelchair to guide the users. This control mode will give the disabled or the wheelchair athletes more opportunities not only for sports, but also for some other everyday work. The results of experiments and simulations indicate that this intelligent wheelchair control system effectively provides mobility and autonomy to the target population.