Application of Player/Stage free robotic platform to the development of a robotized wheelchair

The development of robotized wheelchairs, with the ability to acquire environment information, that enables safe transportation of severely disable people is a current need. In this area, is known the application of techniques from mobile robotics field. The use of standard commercial wheelchairs combined with modular hardware and software platforms allow the development, tuning and future expansion of these systems. More specifically, the so called software robotic platforms have certain advantages over traditional “custom made” design techniques. This work presents important results from the simulation of a robotized wheelchair, previously designed, by using the free software Player/Stage robotic platform, under Ubuntu 9.10 distribution. A three-dimensional model was developed and two local navigation algorithms were also tested.