Assistive Wheelchair

The world experiences a dramatically rising elderly population. As people age, they may become incapacitated in some degree and need assistance from caregivers in doing their daily activities. Since the gap between the supply and demand of caregivers is widening, it is of great significance to develop devices that can support the elderly in their day-to-day life. With the usage of intelligent assistive robotic systems, elderly population can lead a better quality of life independently.

 

This research focuses on development of an intelligent wheelchair system with intelligent voice and gesture interface for controlling. Furthermore, the proposed intelligent robotic wheelchair will be equipped with a robotic manipulator for pick and place tasks, a laser scanner for perceiving the environment, a collapsible tray to keep the objects if needed and human friendly controlling interfaces such as natural voice and gestures. This will eventually enhance the rapport between the human users and the assistive robotic aid in order to uplift the living standard of elderly/ disabled people.

Collaborating Labs: University of Moratuwa.

  • Intelligent Service Robotics
  • Bionics Laboratory

External Collaborators:

  • Prof. Kazuo Kiguchi, Kyushu University

Collaborators:

  • Dr. A. J. B. P. Jayasekara
  • Prof. R. A. R. C. Gopura
  • Dr. D. P. Chandima