Researchers Roll Out Smart Wheelchairs
By: Linda Dailey Paulson
From: Computer - October 2001 - page 20

A research team is working on a "smart" self-navigating wheelchair that uses
artificial intelligence, sensors, and other computer technologies.
Researchers at NASA`S Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Germany's University of
Ulm are developing this MAid (mobility aid) technology. 

"We combined a number of methods from different fields, among them control
theory, signal processing, and artificial intelligence," explained Erwin
Pressler, an engineer at the University of Ulm`s Research Institute for
Applied Knowledge Processing. "These methods are combined into a control
system that enables the wheelchair to maneuver through a crowded environment,
such as a concourse in an airport or a railway station or a shopping mall,
and avoid stationary or moving obstacles."  

Pressler said the wheelchair doesn`t have to know its absolute location, only
its position relative to nearby objects and the destination. To track its
position and speed, the chair uses various types of sensors - including sonar,
infrared, laser, and gyroscope. It also bounces laser pulses off of objects
and compares a sequence of observations to determine their location and, if
they are moving, their speed. 

The chair uses this data to chart the best course to its destination and to
change its position and avoid obstacles when necessary. The MAid research
team recently conducted an experiment of their technology in a train station
in which a railway official tried to block the wheelchair for about five
minutes. 

Pressler said the team will release the chair for commercial use as soon as
it finds an interested company. Until then, the team is continuing its work
and obtaining certifications and approvals. Preliminary estimates indicate
the hardware for converting an electronic wheelchair, will cost between
$7,500 and $10,000. Meanwhile, discussions are ongoing about putting the
first MAid prototype in the Opera don Calabria rehabilitation center in Italy. 

Eventually, MAid owners could use touch-screen or speech technologies to
target desired destinations on a map display. Researchers are also trying to
upgrade decision-making software to help the chair determine the best actions
to take under various circumstances. 


Caption: A research team has developed this "smart" wheelchair, which uses
several computer technologies to maneuver through crowded environments and
find its destination. 

http://www.faw.uni-ulm.de/englisch/bereiche/autonomsys/