Smart Wheelchair Caters to Users with Specific Needs

Assist. Prof. Metha Sirikool and Ajarn Pongpol Nilapruk, lecturers from Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi’s Faculty of Science and Technology, invented a smart wheelchair in collaboration from three students from Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII): Adhya Pranata Sakti, Deny Rahmalianto, and Fernanda Panca Prima.

“The two most common types of wheelchairs that we see in the market today is the manual and electric wheelchairs that use joysticks to control the movement. Our team developed the electric version further, so that it can be controlled from a mobile phone application,” said Assist. Prof. Metha.

The application is specifically for mobile phones using android operating systems, with three different types of control options.

“The first type is using a smart phone with a touch screen feature to control the wheelchair. Users can also control the wheelchair by physically moving the smartphone into a specific position or angle, such as tipping it to the front, right, left, or backwards. This type of control system was developed from the function of an accelerometer. The third type is using a voice-recognition function of the phone, by saying a command in English, such as forward, right, left, stop, reverse, increase, decrease, and finish. All three types of control systems cater to the needs of the user,” he explained.

The smart wheelchair is consisted of two wheels, a control motor, circuit board, and a software application for the android operating system. When in operation, the wheelchair has three different speeds, which is as fast as a regular manual speed.

The initial pilot testing produced good results, with 80% accuracy for the voice-control commands. “The next phase of development will focus on writing the program for the iOS and increase the number of supported languages, including Thai. Moreover, the application can be developed further for the purpose of using voice-control commands to turn various household appliances on and off, as in a smart home system,” Prof. Metha said.

For more information about this innovation, contact 0 2549 4194.