Distributed system of mobile platform obstacle avoidance and control as robotic assistant for disabled and elderly

In this paper an experiment aimed to demonstrate that a distributed system of embedded microcontrollers is presented. In the experiment described, didactic mobile robot, People Bot from mobile robots has been used, but the entire solution can be easily ported for the implementation of an intelligent wheelchair, capable either to carry an elderly or disabled person, or to move independently in a smart environment, as a sensorial extension of the assisted individual. A number of control modules are located on the mobile robot while others are deployed in an ¿intelligent environment¿ can significantly reduce the cost of developing a robotic assistant for the elderly and disabled. The structure of the experimental setup is described in detail, as well as the main algorithms used for each individual task: path following, obstacle avoidance, data acquisition. An obstacle avoidance algorithm, based on ricochet method, named ¿the bubble rebound algorithm¿, is presented, too.