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Design and Development of a Smart Wheelchair for the Disabled People

Conference Paper · February 2021

DOI: 10.1109/ICICT4SD50815.2021.9397034

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 2021 International Conference on Information and Communication Technology for Sustainable Development (ICICT4SD),
27-28 February, Dhaka.

Design and Development of a Smart Wheelchair for

the Disabled People
Foez Ahmed1,2, Robi Paul1, Md. Mufassal Ahmad1, Arif Ahammad1, Showmik Singha1
1
Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh.
2
Email: [email protected]

Abstract— About 15% of the world population is currently wheelchair to cope up with the problem. But this solution
suffering from one or some form of disability. Among the binds them to a confined area as they have to manually move
various cases of disability, incompetence of mobility is the most the wheels with hands [8]. Recently, numerous companies and
common drawback, which significantly affects the ordinary life researchers are working on highly assistive, and various
of the patient. The traditional approach is to bind the patient to guidance systems enabled wheelchairs that can make the
a conventional wheelchair. However, it fails to provide the user navigation system more comfortable for any kind of disabled
with a taste of freedom as the user will require continuous person. Kalantri et al. published a research proposal by
assistance from others. Although the user can manually propel showing a wheelchair design, where he has implemented a
the system, it will take quite some physical effort. A smart
tilted acceleration sensor to navigate the chair in four
wheelchair with different driving modes can significantly reduce
effort. In this research, we designed a smart-wheelchair contains
directions. By applying classic mathematical formulations,
two types of drive system like the thumb and gesture control they have calculated the tilt and move in the directions
system. The design of the User Interface (UI) is such that, the accordingly [9]. Pande et al. also suggested a wheelchair
user to easily navigate across the menu and choose the preferred design where they have used gesture control using the
control system. A heart rate sensor is incorporated to compute acceleration technology [10]. They have used an ADXL202
the medical conditions of the patient. In case of any emergency, sensor to calculate the hand movement and interpret the
the build-in response system will be activated and provide a direction of acceleration accordingly.
notification to the concerned person.
In this research, a wheelchair is presented, which has
Keywords—smart wheelchair, thumb control, gesture control, incorporated mainly two types of control systems such as
voice control, heart rate thumb control and gesture control. The user can choose the
control system of his/her liking from the user menu. He/she
I. INTRODUCTION can go through the menu using thumb control or by using
voice commands. We have also taken caution about
The word disability indicates a condition of the body or
monitoring the health condition of the user. We equipped the
human mind where a person with these conditions may
chair with a health monitoring system so that users health
experience difficultly to lead daily works or even to interact
status can be monitored continuously. In the case of
with the world around him/her. In today's count, more than
significant issues, an authorized person will be informed. The
650 million of the world's population are currently facing at
chair is featured with a “Save Our Souls” (SOS) protocol for
least one and sometimes multiple forms of disability and
the user to access from the user menu. Throughout the
incompetence [1]. This number is most likely to increase soon
research, it was tried to keep the wheelchair user friendly so
due to the alarming increase in accidents, especially road
that the chair can be used as a conventional one.
accidents. The number is also contributed by the increasing
number of older people due to medical advancement, in recent
years [2, 3]. Studies have suggested that nearly 80% of people
who suffer from disabilities reside in developing countries [4]. II. METHODOLOGY
Due to their financial position, they cannot receive proper The electrical hardware consists of a Main Microcontroller
facilities and treatment, which generally hampers their Unit (MCU) which handles all the process in direct and
livelihood. This leads them to consider themselves as a burden indirect ways. It processes the signals acquired from various
to their family and society which leads to serious mental input devices such as the joystick, accelerometer, heart rate
inferiority complexes and much more. The lack of sensor, etc. and, processes output for the LCD, motors, and
participation in this enormous part of society decreases other output devices. A simplified block diagram of the
productivity to a large extent [5]. Thousands of ill-fated hardware interfacing is in Figure 1.
persons become victims of road accidents in Bangladesh,
every year. According to research conducted by the At first of all, the hardware functionalities are initialized
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Report in and will be made ready to process user instructions. Then the
2015, shows that almost 47,437 people were victims of road system will wait for further instruction from the user. Figure 2
accidents and received major or minor forms of disabilities. represents the flow chart of the wheelchair program. If any
They have also presented that about 2-4% of the total drive command is received, then the corresponding drive-
population of Bangladesh experience significant difficulties in mode is initiated. As long as there is a proper input or no stop
their daily life due to their disability [6, 7]. command, the driving mode shall continue accordingly. The
user may also feel the need to train the system to identify
Unable to move from one place to another is one of the different gestures or voices. Therefore, the user can re-train
principal issues among disabled people. Typically, they use a

978-0-7381-4418-4/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE

 Fig. 1. Block Diagram of Hardware Interfacing. Fig. 2. Flow chart of the wheelchair program.

the system. The user may need to ask for help. In our SOS voice commands and after that send the simplified logic to the
protocol, Global Positioning System (GPS) will determine the main MCU.
location of the wheelchair. The estimated coordinates of the
wheelchair's location are sent via SMS to a predefined
authority, followed by a phone call. Besides, the siren will be D. Emergency Response System
ring periodically to attract the attention of people nearby. A Besides the diverse control method of the wheelchair, we
broader description of the process is as flows. are also implementing safety measures and emergency
response systems in our project. In case of an emergency, the
user can activate the emergency response system. Activating
A. Joystick Control so, the coordinates of the user's location will be estimated
In this control method, analog input from the joystick is using the GPS module. The location data will be sent to a
processed and then translated into as per requirements [11]. person of authority as well as receive a call. Furthermore, a
By using the joystick, the user can navigate across the menu loud siren will be rung to attract the attention of the people
as well as drive the wheelchair. The directional commands of nearby.
the joystick shall be as direct as gamepads. In addition to
tilting the joystick, the joystick will also have a push-button
which will allow the user to enter or exit an option E. Other features
The chair is designed to give freedom to the users which
also indicates that the user may take the chair outside [15, 16].
B. Gesture Control To cope up with the outside world, we have integrated a
To achieve a gesture-based control system, we have Flashlight and a siren to the chair. Both can be accessed
incorporated an accelerometer module. This technique is manually as well as from the system menu. The siren also acts
extremely versatile and can be attached to any part of the user's as an alarm system that notifies people around the user if any
body, where it is convenient for performing gestures [12, 13]. kind of health problem or accidents occur to the user. In
addition, the user can also ring the siren as a horn as needed
Before initiating a system, the user will request the device and use the flashlight in low-light environments. The
to train for: forward, backward, left, and right movement flashlight and horn include its independent battery
gestures. Subsequently, the user may initiate the drive. When replenishing from the main module. So even in the scenario
the given gesture matches with previously learned gestures, where the main battery runs empty, the user will still be able
the motors are driven accordingly. If the system detects a to utilize the light of the flashlight and ring the siren.
sudden fall or a significant acceleration, the gesture-driving
will instantly stop. The drive has to be reinitiated by the
joystick or voice commands.
III. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
In this section, we shall provide a brief description of the
C. Voice Control System. The hardware descriptions are as follows.
Voice recognition is implemented in our project to make
menu navigation easy for those who have difficulty in using
the joystick [14]. By using the voice commands, the user shall A. Hardware Description
be able to access all the functions of the wheelchair without Most of the electrical components of our project have been
touching the control. Voice control is allowed over the entire systematically arranged in an aluminium enclosure to
system, except for driving, as the latency issue might cause maintain the aesthetic purpose as well as hassle-free electrical
unfortunate occurrences. The voice commands are first wiring and durability of the design. We are calling this
received by the voice module. The voice module provides raw enclosure our main module.
digital signals which require further processing. To reduce the
load from the main Microcontroller Unit (MCU) of this
process, we are using a secondary MCU for processing the
 The main module has an embedded LCD, joystick, and Figure 3. (b) shows the MPU-6050 module, which is used
heart rate sensor on the faceplate shown in Figure 3. (a). The for gesture sensing purposes. This is a 3.3V device containing
main module provides a charging port on its right side. And, a 3-Axis Gyroscope and 3-Axis Accelerometer. Due to its
on the left, we have the interface port with the flashlight and form factor being remarkably small, it is very convenient for
horn. On the top side, we have the microphone connector, the user to attach it with a fingertip or the neck with a double-
accelerometer connector, and the power cut out. And lastly, sided adhesive tape.
on the bottom side, we have provided connections for the
motors. Including all the electrical components, aluminium To achieve the navigation system through voice, we have
chassis, and batteries, the main module still weighs about only used a voice module from the Elechouse brand. The module
2.4 kg. is attached to a microphone that directly receives the
command from the user. The module can specify the user's

(b)

(a) (c)
Fig. 3. (a) Main Module, (b) Accelerometer Module and (c) Charging Module.

(a) (b)
Fig. 4. (a) Wheelchair and (b) User Interface.
voice and store some predefined command lines locally. TABLE I. SPECIFICATIONS OF THE SYSTEM
When a specific command is given by the user, it then
Parameters Value
compares the command with predefined ones and generates an
analog signal accordingly. Wheel Diameter 22 inches

The heart rate sensor is a part of the medical facilities that Weight 24 Kg
have attached to the chair for monitoring the health conditions Battery 4s 11Ah LiPo
of the user. It can measure a user's heart rate when a finger is
placed on top of it. The result is displayed on the LCD. When Peak Current 31 A
the sensor notices any form of irregularity in heart rate value Load Capacity 85 Kg
it will immediately send a signal to the central processing unit
which notifies the authorized person with an estimated Top Speed 5.11 Km/h
location. Acceleration (0 to top speed) 4 seconds
The charging unit is shown in Figure 3. (c) is assembled Maximum Torque 1.6 N-m
with a 24V 10A SMPS and CC-CV charging system for 4-S
Lithium polymer batteries. A battery level indicator is also Travel distance on Full Charge 10 Km
used. To maintain the power supply in an optimal operating Full Charging Time 2 hours
environment, we are using a fan to blow away the waste heat.
Socket to Wheel efficiency 49.39%
We again systematically constructed the charging unit using
an Aluminium Enclosure for aesthetic and durability
purposes. Although it is possible to charge the battery full in The summarized results of our test-runs are in Table 2. The
just 45 minutes, we are charging the battery at a steadier rate chair is well capable of reaching 5.11 Km/h with an
to prolong the life of this battery. acceleration speed from 0 to top within 4 secs. The charging
After the proper installation of all the devices on the rate is kept slower to ensure user safety. All of the tests are
wheelchair, Figure 4. (a) shows the final result. executed on ordinary pitch covered roads and by dragging
some weight behind the wheelchair. We have also conducted
a charging efficiency cycle that shows the efficiency of above
B. User Interface (UI) Description 49%.
The interface of the chair is designed in cyclic order like TABLE II. JOYSTICK CONTROL
Figure 4. (b), such that the user can easily move up or down
across the menu and choose functions of his/her likings using Parameters Accuracy Response Delay
thumb control or voice command. The menu consists of
Forward 100% 100ms
options that contain heart rate check-up, control system
selection, system training protocol, and emergency help Backward 100% 100ms
options. The system training protocol involves the calibration
Left 100% 100ms
process of the voice and accelerometer-based control system.
Right 100% 100ms

IV. RESULTS
To determine the performance of our device, we have TABLE III. GESTURE DRIVE
taken a huge number of tests runs under consideration and
gathered data containing the chair’s specifications, response, Parameters Accuracy Response Delay
behavior and performance characteristics under different
Forward 100% 100ms
conditions. These data are presented through Table I-IV which
should represent the performance in the average use case Backward 100% 100ms
scenario.
Left 100% 100ms
Our wheelchair was tested by 3 technicians and 17 general Right 100% 100ms
people of ages ranging from 9 to 70. The intuitive interface of
our wheelchair makes it easy to understand for people of all
ages. Especially, the gesture control system was found to be
most easy for elderly peoples. Whereas, people of age ranging
from 15 to 40 were particularly easy coping with voice
control.
 TABLE IV. VOICE RECOGNITION ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Low Noise Low Noise
High High We express our gratitude towards the people who have
Noise Noise guided us in various steps during our project. We would also
Accuracy Accuracy
Voice Test Accuracy Accuracy
(Tech…) (General)
(Tech…) (General) like to thank the Shahjalal University of Science and
(%) (%)
(%) (%) Technology Research Centre for funding the project.
Up 100 86.67 76.67 78.33
Down 95 78.33 71.67 73.33
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