Abstract-An automated wheelchair with a guide sensor, guided by a magnetic ferrite marker that is resistant to the presence of dirt, is described. The wheelchair permits the severely disabled, as well as the older population, to move about freely, both indoors and outdoors. This is due to the simple operation involved (pushing a button), and a magnetic ferrite marker lane which is minimally influenced by dirt or other nonmagnetic materials. For increased comfort, a nonlinear signal-processing circuit and pulse-steering drive method have been developed to provide a smooth running operation. In addition, a function that provides for stopping at desired destinations has been added for convenience, and a collision prevention function using infrared sensors has been added for safety.

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A dual-bias differential method is presented for increasing the detection range of a ternary barcode detection system. The system is provided with a second differential delay circuit with bias control to process optimally gray signals by lowering their averaged level using a clamping circuit. This is added to the primary conventional differential delay circuit without bias control and a comparator to process optimally black signals based on the envelope-differential fixed-period delay (EDFPD) detection technique. This method enables the system to detect over a longer range at high speeds while being capable of handling a large amount of information. The estimate results of gray and white code widths against the clamp bias made through the dynamic operation simulation of a differential circuit using SPICE were nearly consistent with the experimental results. Thereby we can conclude that the dynamic simulation is effective for estimation of an optimum clamp bias voltage. It was confirmed that the detection range of the system with a clamp bias voltage of ?0.4 V for a minimum bar width W = 0.25 mm was 1.4 times that of the conventional EDFPD detection technique. In addition, the system operated at a maximum scanning speed of 7.7 times that of conventional CCD cameras under the practical detection range. The system with clamp bias control is expected to enable the real-time identification of goods on production lines and in automated warehouses.

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