Intelligent Wheelchair Driving: Bridging the Gap Between Virtual and Real Intelligent Wheelchairs

• Type: Article in International Conference Proceedings Book
• Date: 2015

Authors

Faria, BM (Author) Other; reis, lp (Author) REIT; lau, n (Author) FCUP; António Paulo Moreira (Author) FEUP; Petry, M (Author) Other; Ferreira, LM (Author) Other

Conference proceedings International

Title: PROGRESS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Pages: 445-456

17th Portuguese Conference on Artificial Intelligence (EPIA)

Univ Coimbra, Coimbra, PORTUGAL, SEP 08-11, 2015

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 10 Citations

Scopus - 14 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00G-SZN

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-23485-4_44

Abstract (EN): Wheelchairs are important locomotion devices for handicapped and senior people. With the increase in the number of senior citizens and the increment of people bearing physical deficiencies, there is a growing demand for safer and more comfortable wheelchairs. So the new Intelligent Wheelchair (IW) concept was introduced. Like many other robotic systems, the main capabilities of an intelligent wheelchair should be: autonomous navigation with safety, flexibility and capability of avoiding obstacles; intelligent interface with the user; communication with other devices. In order to achieve these capabilities a good testbed is needed on which trials and users' training may be safely conducted. This paper presents an extensible virtual environment simulator of an intelligent wheelchair to fulfill that purpose. The simulator combines the main features of robotic simulators with those built for training and evaluation of prospective wheelchair users. Experiments with the real prototype allowed having results and information to model the virtual intelligent wheelchair. Several experiments with real users of electric wheelchairs (suffering from cerebral palsy) and potential users of an intelligent wheelchair were performed. The System Usability Score allowed having the perception of the users in terms of the usability of the IW in the virtual environment. The mean score was 72 indicating a satisfactory level of the usability. It was possible to conclude with the experiments that the virtual intelligent wheelchair and environment are usable instruments to test and train potential users.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 12