Article

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.

Langue : ANGLAIS