Title :
A smart walker for the frail visually impaired
Author :
MacNamara, Shane ; Lacey, Gerard
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Trinity Coll., Dublin, Ireland
Abstract :
This paper describes the design of a smart mobility aid for frail, visually impaired people. The device is based on the concept of a walker or rollator-a walking frame with wheels. This work is motivated by the fact the frail visually impaired have extreme difficulty using conventional mobility aids such as guide dogs or long canes. The device, which is called PAM-AID (Personal Adaptive Mobility Aid) has two modes of operation, manual and assistive. In manual mode the device behaves very much like a normal walker and, in addition, provides the user with information on the environment via a speech interface. In assistive mode, the PAM-AID assumes control of the steering and navigates safely around obstacles. The PAM-AID was evaluated in residential homes for the elderly
Keywords :
collision avoidance; computerised navigation; handicapped aids; intelligent control; mobile robots; speech-based user interfaces; PAM-AID; Personal Adaptive Mobility Aid; assistive mode; frail visually impaired; manual mode; navigation; obstacle avoidance; rollator; smart mobility aid; smart walker; speech interface; steering; wheeled walking frame; Computer science; Couplings; Kinematics; Laser theory; Manuals; Senior citizens; Sonar detection; Sonar navigation; User interfaces; Wheels;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation, 2000. Proceedings. ICRA '00. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5886-4
DOI :
10.1109/ROBOT.2000.844786