Development of electric wheelchair interface based on laser pointer

The rapidly aging society in Japan has resulted in an increased demand for electric wheelchairs to enhance the mobility of elderly persons. However, the increased use of electric wheelchairs means an increase in the number of accidents related to wheelchair operation errors. The majority of errors involve the joystick interface because its controllability is highly sensitive and not very intuitive compared to the vehicle-type interface. This paper describes a newly developed intuitive electric wheelchair interface that uses a laser pointer. The direction of the laser pointer is automatically detected by camera and analyzed for movement direction. To ensure smooth driving by using the laser pointer, we apply fuzzy logic. To confirm the proposed method, several simulations were conducted and examined.