Title :
Using virtual potential fields for electric wheelchair guidance
Author :
Díaz, S. Vicente ; Rodríguez, C. Amaya ; Balcells, A. Civit ; Del Rio, F. Díaz
Author_Institution :
Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria Informitica, Univ. de Sevilla, Spain
Abstract :
TetraNauta is an electric wheelchair guidance system intended for people with heavy motion impairments (such as persons with tetraplegia). It is specially useful when impairments also affect wheelchair steering as it is able to automatically guide wheelchairs between different points in a known environment (a hospital, a school, etc), conditioned with track marks painted on the floor. It also provides a semiautomatic navigation mode, where control is shared between user and navigation system. It is intended for learning wheelchair manipulation and as an aid in places where navigation is difficult or dangerous (i.e. for crossing narrow corridors).
Keywords :
automatic guided vehicles; electric vehicles; handicapped aids; motion control; navigation; position control; TetraNauta; electric wheelchair guidance; heavy motion impairments; hospital; narrow corridors crossing; school; semiautomatic navigation mode; tetraplegia; track marks; virtual potential fields; wheelchair manipulation learning; Automatic control; Communication system traffic control; Educational institutions; Electric potential; Hospitals; Motion control; Motion planning; Navigation; Switches; Wheelchairs;
Conference_Titel :
IECON 02 [Industrial Electronics Society, IEEE 2002 28th Annual Conference of the]
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7474-6
DOI :
10.1109/IECON.2002.1185378