Through the years, there has been the introduction of several new types of technologies that have focused on assisting people with disabilities. Advanced technologies allow such individuals to move more freely around their surroundings and do everyday tasks. The new range of such technologies is quite broad and goes from bionic limbs to mobile robots.
A new product has entered into this race in the form of a semi-autonomous wheelchair. The safe and efficient product moves as per the user’s eye movements. It consists of a unique system that might allow people with severe motor disabilities to control the wheelchair even if they are unable to move their limbs. This groundbreaking development in the Robotic Wheelchair Market is not only innovative but also cost-effective and user-friendly. RoboEYE, as it is referred to, has a control system based on gaze detection that allows people with severe disabilities to power the wheelchair autonomously within their homes.
The wheelchair works by integrating the functionalities of robotic systems into a standard power wheelchair. It provides the users with two driving strategies while they are navigating their surrounding environment. One is based on pointing towards the direction the user wants to take, and the other is based on eye movements.
The most intuitive and direct modality gazes at different areas of a monitor. It then predicts the continuous control of frontal and angular wheelchair velocities. However, the semi-autonomous modality provides navigation toward a selected point in the environment by just pointing and activating the desired location. Meanwhile, the system takes the responsibility of autonomously planning and following the trajectory that brings the wheelchair to that point.
RoboEYE, in comparison to other similar technologies, is minimally invasive to its users. It has the ability to integrate functionalities derived from the field of mobile robotics. Also, it takes account of the uncertainty in human-machine interactions and is founded upon low-cost hardware solutions. Hence, a product with an efficient and cost-effective system is placed into the market that ensures user safety.
The dual application designed by the researchers might also apply to other types of wheelchairs that come in different shapes and sizes. Through further study, researchers might come up with much more efficient robotic systems to help people with severe motor disabilities.