An assistive navigation system for wheelchairs based upon mobile robot obstacle avoidance

Author

Bell, David A. ; Borenstein, Johann ; Levine, Simon P. ; Koren, Yoram ; Jaros, Lincoln

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. Eng., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

fYear

1994

fDate

8-13 May 1994

Firstpage

2018

Abstract

The NavChair assistive navigation system is being developed to meet the needs of multiply handicapped people who are unable to operate available wheelchair systems. The NavChair Project was conceived as an application of mobile robot obstacle avoidance to a power wheelchair. During the course of this project, the vector field histogram (VFH) method has been adapted for use in human-machine systems and the shortcomings of the wheelchair platform have been overcome. This paper briefly reviews the VFH method, describes interesting aspects of its application to a power wheelchair, and presents an experimental evaluation of system performance. Finally, unresolved problems of obstacle avoidance in human-operated vehicles are discussed

Keywords

handicapped aids; man-machine systems; mobile robots; navigation; path planning; performance evaluation; NavChair Project; assistive navigation system; handicapped aids; human-machine systems; mobile robot; obstacle avoidance; vector field histogram; wheelchairs; Computer displays; Control systems; Dead reckoning; Histograms; Man machine systems; Mobile robots; Navigation; Sonar; System performance; Wheelchairs;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Automation, 1994. Proceedings., 1994 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

Print_ISBN

0-8186-5330-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBOT.1994.351167

Filename

351167