The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System
The paper aims to study the applicability and limitations of the solution resulting from a design process for an intelligent system supporting people with special needs who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems. The intelligent system uses information from smart sen...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/1/13 |
| _version_ | 1797493705086599168 |
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| author | Dorian Cojocaru Liviu Florin Manta Cristina Floriana Pană Andrei Dragomir Alexandru Marin Mariniuc Ionel Cristian Vladu |
| author_facet | Dorian Cojocaru Liviu Florin Manta Cristina Floriana Pană Andrei Dragomir Alexandru Marin Mariniuc Ionel Cristian Vladu |
| author_sort | Dorian Cojocaru |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The paper aims to study the applicability and limitations of the solution resulting from a design process for an intelligent system supporting people with special needs who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems. The intelligent system uses information from smart sensors and offers a control system that replaces the use of a joystick. The necessary movements of the chair in the environment can be determined by an intelligent vision system analyzing the direction of the patient’s gaze and point of view, as well as the actions of the head. In this approach, an important task is to detect the destination target in the 3D workspace. This solution has been evaluated, outdoor and indoor, under different lighting conditions. In order to design the intelligent wheelchair, and because sometimes people with special needs also have specific problems with their optical system (e.g., strabismus, Nystagmus) the system was tested on different subjects, some of them wearing eyeglasses. During the design process of the intelligent system, all the tests involving human subjects were performed in accordance with specific rules of medical security and ethics. In this sense, the process was supervised by a company specialized in health activities that involve people with special needs. The main results and findings are as follows: validation of the proposed solution for all indoor lightning conditions; methodology to create personal profiles, used to improve the HMI efficiency and to adapt it to each subject needs; a primary evaluation and validation for the use of personal profiles in real life, indoor conditions. The conclusion is that the proposed solution can be used for persons who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems, having with minor vision deficiencies or major vision impairment affecting one of the eyes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:23:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72b81843bbfe4889a090f9ccb2c573f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:23:53Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-72b81843bbfe4889a090f9ccb2c573f72023-11-23T13:54:16ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322021-12-011011310.3390/healthcare10010013The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual SystemDorian Cojocaru0Liviu Florin Manta1Cristina Floriana Pană2Andrei Dragomir3Alexandru Marin Mariniuc4Ionel Cristian Vladu5Department of Mechatronics and Robotics, University of Craiova, RO-200440 Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Mechatronics and Robotics, University of Craiova, RO-200440 Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Mechatronics and Robotics, University of Craiova, RO-200440 Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Mechatronics and Robotics, University of Craiova, RO-200440 Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Mechatronics and Robotics, University of Craiova, RO-200440 Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Mechatronics and Robotics, University of Craiova, RO-200440 Craiova, RomaniaThe paper aims to study the applicability and limitations of the solution resulting from a design process for an intelligent system supporting people with special needs who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems. The intelligent system uses information from smart sensors and offers a control system that replaces the use of a joystick. The necessary movements of the chair in the environment can be determined by an intelligent vision system analyzing the direction of the patient’s gaze and point of view, as well as the actions of the head. In this approach, an important task is to detect the destination target in the 3D workspace. This solution has been evaluated, outdoor and indoor, under different lighting conditions. In order to design the intelligent wheelchair, and because sometimes people with special needs also have specific problems with their optical system (e.g., strabismus, Nystagmus) the system was tested on different subjects, some of them wearing eyeglasses. During the design process of the intelligent system, all the tests involving human subjects were performed in accordance with specific rules of medical security and ethics. In this sense, the process was supervised by a company specialized in health activities that involve people with special needs. The main results and findings are as follows: validation of the proposed solution for all indoor lightning conditions; methodology to create personal profiles, used to improve the HMI efficiency and to adapt it to each subject needs; a primary evaluation and validation for the use of personal profiles in real life, indoor conditions. The conclusion is that the proposed solution can be used for persons who are not physically able to control a wheelchair using classical systems, having with minor vision deficiencies or major vision impairment affecting one of the eyes.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/1/13HMI sensors and devicesbiomedical roboticseye-tracking command systemeye gazeassistive robotics |
| spellingShingle | Dorian Cojocaru Liviu Florin Manta Cristina Floriana Pană Andrei Dragomir Alexandru Marin Mariniuc Ionel Cristian Vladu The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System Healthcare HMI sensors and devices biomedical robotics eye-tracking command system eye gaze assistive robotics |
| title | The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System |
| title_full | The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System |
| title_fullStr | The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System |
| title_short | The Design of an Intelligent Robotic Wheelchair Supporting People with Special Needs, Including for Their Visual System |
| title_sort | design of an intelligent robotic wheelchair supporting people with special needs including for their visual system |
| topic | HMI sensors and devices biomedical robotics eye-tracking command system eye gaze assistive robotics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/1/13 |
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