title: IntellWheels: modular development platform for intelligent wheelchairs.
abstract: Intelligent wheelchairs (IWs) can become an important solution to the challenge of assisting individuals who have disabilities and are thus unable to perform their daily activities using classic powered wheelchairs. This article describes the concept and design of IntellWheels, a modular platform to facilitate the development of IWs through a multiagent system paradigm. In fact, modularity is achieved not only in the software perspective, but also through a generic hardware framework that was designed to fit, in a straightforward manner, almost any commercial powered wheelchair. Experimental results demonstrate the successful integration of all modules in the platform, providing safe motion to the IW. Furthermore, the results achieved with a prototype running in autonomous mode in simulated and mixed-reality environments also demonstrate the potential of our approach. Although some future research is still necessary to fully accomplish our objectives, preliminary tests have shown that IntellWheels will effectively reduce users' limitations, offering them a much more independent life.
authors.affiliation: DEI/FEUP, Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Antonio Marques
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petry
authors.forename: Luis Paulo
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: António Paulo
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Moreira
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D012371:Robotics; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014910:Wheelchairs