Real-time performance of a hands-free semi-autonomous wheelchair system using a combination of stereoscopic and spherical vision.
This paper is concerned with the operational performance of a semi-autonomous wheelchair system named TIM (Thought-controlled Intelligent Machine), which uses cameras in a system configuration modeled on the vision system of a horse. This new camera configuration utilizes stereoscopic vision for 3-Dimensional (3D) depth perception and mapping ahead of the wheelchair, combined with a spherical camera system for 360-degrees of monocular vision. The unique combination allows for static components of an unknown environment to be mapped and any surrounding dynamic obstacles to be detected, during real-time autonomous navigation, minimizing blind-spots and preventing accidental collisions with people or obstacles. Combining this vision system with a shared control strategy provides intelligent assistive guidance during wheelchair navigation, and can accompany any hands-free wheelchair control technology for people with severe physical disability. Testing of this system in crowded dynamic environments has displayed the feasibility and real-time performance of this system when assisting hands-free control technologies, in this case being a proof-of-concept brain-computer interface (BCI).
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia. Jordan.Nguyen@uts.edu.au
Jordan S
JS
Nguyen
Tuan Nghia
TN
Nguyen
Yvonne
Y
Tran
Steven W
SW
Su
Ashley
A
Craig
Hung T
HT
Nguyen
D000465:Algorithms; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D015357:Vision Disparity / Q000502:physiology; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014910:Wheelchairs