• Smart Wheelchair using Hand Gesture

Smart Wheelchair using Hand Gesture

Ayush Tolia1, Meera Dedhia1, Krish Bilakhiya1, Aditi Chayani1, Anshul Salian1, Shubham Bhimavat1, Ranjushree Pal2
1U. G. Student, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, D. J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai- 400056
2 Associate Professor, Electronics and Telecommunication Department D. J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Vile Parle (W), Mumbai-
400056
E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected] [email protected], 2 @djsce.ac.in

Abstract— This study outlines a framework for an wheelchair in 1914, making it the first electric-powered
affordable smart wheelchair that offers a variety of wheelchair. This chair's commercial production commenced
features to people with disabilities. To enable the person in 1956. Many researchers have presented various systems or
to move about freely without any outside aid, a smart approaches to control electric wheelchairs since their
electric wheelchair prototype is being developed. A more development.
sophisticated and smarter wheelchair can be created to
overcome the limits of the current conventional OBJECTIVE:
wheelchairs thanks to recent advancements in robotic The ideal assistive gadget for the elderly and crippled is a
artificial intelligence. An accelerometer positioned on the wheelchair. Driving and managing a conventional wheelchair
hand glove senses the tilt angle of the user's hand gestures is a significantly more difficult undertaking. Our goal is to
and provides a control signal to a receiver mounted on the create a strong, affordable wheelchair that enables persons
wheelchair to operate the prototype smart wheelchair with disabilities to travel independently.
that was demonstrated in this study utilising hardware
implementation. This will interpret the movement as the PROPOSED DESIGN:
user has requested. The ATMEGA328 microprocessor An ADXL335 accelerometer is utilised as a sensor in this
and Arduino UNO are integrated to create the wheelchair hand gesture-controlled wheelchair. It will produce an analog
control unit. The wheelchair is designed to make it safe signal when moved in the X, Y, and Z axes, respectively. The
for people to move around and to increase the reliability analog signal is compared with the digital signal using an
of doing several crucial everyday tasks. LM324 operational amplifier. The signal is wirelessly sent
using a 434 GHz radio frequency transmitter. To prevent
KEYWORDS—Smart Wheelchair, Hand Gestures, interference from another device, the data is encoded with an
Accelerator, Arduino UNO. encoder IC HT12E before being sent. The signal is then
transmitted wirelessly. The signal is now received by the
INTRODUCTION: receiver, processed by the decoder to decode it, and then the
A wheelchair is necessary for a disabled person who lacks data from the receiver is supplied as input to the
hands and feet and needs it to do tasks that call for movement. microcontroller. On receiving the input, the signal, the
He has two options for doing this: physically pushing the microcontroller compares the data which is preinstalled in the
wheelchair with his hands or getting assistance. It is highly controller. If the input data matches the preinstalled data, a
taxing to push a wheelchair when you are disabled. We tried signal is then sent to the L293D IC, which subsequently sends
to get them a wheelchair that would lessen their difficulties. the signal to relays, causing the wheelchair to move. Because
The need for wheelchairs is constantly growing due to the it captures even the smallest changes, the ADXL335
growing populations of elderly people and people who are accelerometer was selected as the sensing device. The first
physically disabled. There are many people in the world who challenge is calibrating the accelerometer to the project's
are disabled, both physically and otherwise. The World specifications so that we can precisely control the motion of
Health Organization estimates that 75 million people, or 1% the wheels. To do this, we utilise variable resistors and check
of the global population, use wheelchairs as a result of the output for various voltage values that we altered by
different disabilities. The term "mobility impairment" refers changing the variable resistance. To compare the two inputs
to a variety of different categories of disability. Disabilities and provide the result appropriately, we employ comparators.
may be neuromuscular, which affects nerves and muscles, or We also must adjust the tilting angle as per the motion of the
orthopedic, which affects bones and muscles. Amputation, hand. After taking various values we set the reference values
paralysis, muscular dystrophy, and spinal cord injury are of the comparator as:
some of the frequent disease forms. Some folks find it Table 1 — Reference value of comparator circuit connected to
challenging to move from one location to another. In order to the accelerometer
assist these folks in travelling from one location to another, a Direction Reference Voltage
Forward 1.15 V
wheelchair was created. The wheelchair that was created Backward 1.92 V
required a carer or the person using it to manually maneuver Left 1.85 V
it, which was stressful for the individual. They become Right 1.76 V
powerless and miserable due to their dependence on others.
Hence, electronic wheelchairs were created. George
Westinghouse published the first concept for an electronic

1
• Proceedings for DJ STRIKE 2023
• Smart Wheelchair using Hand Gesture

c. L2938N Motor Driver: It is a simple circuit used

for controlling a DC motor. A motor driver module
takes the low voltage input from a controller like
Arduino. This input logic controls the direction of
DC motors connected to the driver. Hence you can
control the movement of DC motors by giving
appropriate logic to the motor driver module.
d. MPU6050 Gyro Accelerometer: It is a Micro
Electro-mechanical system (MEMS), it consists of
a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis
gyroscope. It helps us to measure velocity,
orientation, acceleration, displacement and other
motion-like features. Due to this feature, it captures
three-dimension motion at the same time.
Figure 1: small model of Smart Wheelchair

Implementation:
In Hand Gesture based Smart Wheelchair Arduino UNO is
the microcontroller which interfaces the components and
performs tasks; flux sensors detect the hand gestures;
MEMS sensor is used to convert digital signals into
mechanical tasks; motor IC drives the motors; and GSM
module sends the message to the responsible person. This
makes our idea to be cost-efficient compared to the joystick-
controlled or voice-controlled wheelchair.

Figure 3: Flowchart of LM324 Comparator connections

In this Hand Gesture Controlled Wheelchair, an MPU6050

accelerometer is used as a sensor which will be giving
analog signals on moving it in X, Y and Z axis respectively.
Figure 2: Flowchart of Arduino UNO connections An nRF24 is used as a comparator to convert the analog
signal into the digital signal or we can also say it is a
a. Arduino Nano- The Arduino Nano is a small, wireless transceiver module, meaning this module can both
complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on send as well as receive data.
the ATmega328P. Arduino Nano has a number of After that, the signal is sent wirelessly. Now the receiver
facilities for communicating with a computer, receives the signal and then it is processed through the
another Arduino, or other microcontrollers. the decoder so as to decode the signal further the data received
Arduino Nano is designed in a way that allows it to through the receiver is sent to the microcontroller as input.
be reset by software running on a connected On receiving the input signal L298N dual H-Bridge motor
computer. driver starts and then the wheelchair starts moving.
b. NRF24L01: It is a wireless transceiver RF module, We also used Arduino nano to upload the code so nRF24
where each module can send and receive data. This can read the instruction and transmit the signal to the
module can cover 100 meters (200 feet) when receiver & at the receiver point there is also Arduino nano
operated efficiently, making it suitable for wireless which compares the data which are coming from the
remote control projects. The NRF24L01 module is transmitter and then the wheelchair move according to it.
powered by 3.3 Volts, so it can be easily used in There is one more module in this wheelchair which is an
both 3.2 Volts and 5 Volts systems. NRF24L01 is a ultrasonic sensor that will help to avoid obstacles by
radio transceiver module (SPI protocol) used to indicating. So, the wheelchair can stop and for that
send and receive data at ISM operating frequency ultrasonic sensor measures distance by using ultrasonic
from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz. waves. The sensor head emits an ultrasonic wave and

2
• Proceedings for DJ STRIKE 2023
• Smart Wheelchair using Hand Gesture

receives the wave reflected from the target so the wheelchair

automatically stops. [1] (PDF) Hand Gesture Controlled Wheelchair
(researchgate.net)
[2] A9399109119.pdf (ijeat.org)
[3] HAND GESTURE CONTROLLED WHEEL CHAIR
RESULT: (slideshare.net)
Smart Wheelchair that is operated by hand gestures The [4] Gesture Controlled Wheelchair - Arduino Project Hub
microcontroller known as Arduino UNO is used to perform
tasks and interface with other devices. Flux sensors are used
to detect hand gestures, MEMS sensors are employed to
translate digital signals into mechanical actions, motor ICs
are used to drive the motors, and a GSM module is used to
alert the appropriate parties. Because of this, our solution is
more affordable than joystick- or voice-controlled
wheelchairs. Adafruit Nano Based on the ATmega328P, the
Arduino Nano is a compact, comprehensive, and breadboard-
friendly board. The Arduino Nano has 30 male I/O headers
that are arranged in a DIP-30-like format and can be
programmed using the Arduino Software integrated
development environment (IDE), which is available both
online and offline and is shared by all Arduino boards. The
Arduino Nano may be reset using software running on a
linked computer because of the way it is built. The wheelchair
works according to the instruction given by the user through
hand gestures. According to the user’s gesture, both motors
work as shown in Table 2. The Wheelchair will go in the
direction in which our hand gesture shows.

Table 2 — Working of the motors in the wheelchair

Direction of hand Movement of the Movement of the
gesture left motor right motor
Forward Forward Forward
Backward Backward Backward
Right Forward Stop
Left Stop Forward

FUTURE SCOPE:
In order for smart wheelchairs to be a commercial success and
be widely utilised, there are a number of difficulties that
manufacturers and academics must overcome in future work.
Cost versus accuracy is a typical major problem. Affordable
and sophisticated sensors can aid in resolving this issue.
There are yet no smart wheelchairs that can be utilised
universally for all types of disabilities. Additionally,
intelligent wheelchairs ought to be able to keep an eye on the
patient's condition and respond appropriately. Moreover,
research should be done on intelligent wheelchairs for
mentally challenged people to utilise independently. Future
applications for smart wheelchairs are vast, and sensor and
robotics technology advancements will also boost their
economic viability.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT:
This project and technical paper were greatly supported by
Professor Ranjushree Pal. Her expert coaching and
comprehensive assistance were invaluable to us at every level
of this project, and this paper would not have been possible
without her contributions. We are grateful to our colleagues
who contributed their knowledge and experience to the
research and assisted us throughout the process.

REFERENCES:

3
• Proceedings for DJ STRIKE 2023