Visual based sensor cart follower for wheelchair by using microcontroller

Wheelchair users might face their difficult time to carry their luggage when travelling. This work introduces a visual based sensor cart follower to ease the mobility of wheelchair user in carrying their luggage. The cart will track and follows the wheelchair without having any physical connection to the wheelchair. The cart is equipped with a microcontroller, distance sensor, ultrasonic sensors, vision sensor, and several motors. The cart will move and follow the wheelchair if vision sensor (CMUcam5™) detects the predefined color pattern. Servo angle is then used to steer the cart to the right or left. The distance and ultrasonic sensors are used by the cart to avoid from colliding with incoming obstacles. The motor driver is used to control the movement of the driven motor. The field of view angle of CMUcam5™ is from 83.97° to 88.84° within distance from 10cm to 50cm. The wide angle of the servo motor is set from 60° to 120°. The cart will stay stationary if the distance with obstacle is within 10cm to 20cm. It will move forward if the distance is more than 20cm and backward if less than 10cm. This visual based sensor cart follower can help the wheelchair user to travel easily while carrying their luggage.