Robotic wheelchair observing its inside and outside

摘要

We propose a robotic wheelchair which can be controlled by turning our face in the direction where we would like to go. Although it can be used easily, there is a problem that unintentional movements of our face may interfere the wheelchair motion. This paper presents our new robotic wheelchair improved by observing its inside and outside, i.e., the user and the environment. It effectively integrates autonomous capabilities and the interface by face direction. It uses the sensor information obtained for autonomous navigation to solve the problem with the control by face direction. Also, if it can understand the user's intentions from observing the face, it chooses an appropriate autonomous navigation function to reduce the user's burden of operation. When the user is off the wheelchair, the user becomes a part of the outside. In this case, it detects the user by recognizing his/her face. Then it can move according to the user's commands indicated by hand gestures.