Computer Controlled Power Wheelchair Navigation System (CCPWNS)
The CCPWNS project in the AME department at Notre Dame provides navigational autonomy for disabled users who, due to a mix of disabilities, which may include blindness, cannot control their own power wheelchairs within their home or workplace setting. Based upon estimation algorithms that apply a mix of wheel odometry and visual detection of prepositioned wall cues, the system constructs a feasible connection between the current chair position and a user-input destination by piecing together previously taught path segments. The performance is precise and robust. Ultrasound is used to avoid collision with new obstacles (whereupon the current path is executed in reverse); and a voice-based user interface is demonstrated.