RoboEye, an Efficient, Reliable and Safe Semi-Autonomous Gaze Driven Wheelchair for Domestic Use

Abstract

Any severe motor disability is a condition that limits the ability to interact with the environment, even the domestic one, caused by the loss of control over one’s mobility. This work presents RoboEYE, a power wheelchair designed to allow users to move easily and autonomously within their homes. To achieve this goal, an innovative, cost-effective and user-friendly control system was designed, in which a non-invasive eye tracker, a monitor, and a 3D camera represent some of the core elements. RoboEYE integrates functionalities from the mobile robotics field into a standard power wheelchair, with the main advantage of providing the user with two driving options and comfortable navigation. The most intuitive and direct modality foresees the continuous control of frontal and angular wheelchair velocities by gazing at different areas of the monitor. The second, semi-autonomous modality allows navigation toward a selected point in the environment by just pointing and activating the wished destination while the system autonomously plans and follows the trajectory that brings the wheelchair to that point. The purpose of this work was to develop the control structure and driving interface designs of the aforementioned driving modalities taking into account also uncertainties in gaze detection and other sources of uncertainty related to the components to ensure user safety. Furthermore, the driving modalities, in particular the semi-autonomous one, were modeled and qualified through numerical simulations and experimental verification by testing volunteers, who are regular users of standard electric wheelchairs, to verify the efficiency, reliability and safety of the proposed system for domestic use. RoboEYE resulted suitable for environments with narrow passages wider than 1 m, which is comparable with a standard domestic door and due to its properties with large commercialization potential.

Virtual Reality-Based Framework to Simulate Control Algorithms for Robotic Assistance and Rehabilitation Tasks through a Standing Wheelchair

“…Within the areas of robotic assistance and rehabilitation, one can define ADL tasks assisted autonomously by a robotic system [ 43 , 44 ]. For this purpose, a robotic standing wheelchair has been considered for the autonomous control of movements of the robot–human system.…”

“…However, when considering robotic systems for the rehabilitation area, there is no commercial software or free software that allows one to simulate the behavior of robotic systems oriented to the execution of assistance or rehabilitation tasks. Therefore, the development of new interactive and 3D simulators applied to the area of service robotics is a new trend in the scientific community, whose implementation has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic [ 4 , 43 , 48 ].…”

Biosignal-Based Human–Machine Interfaces for Assistance and Rehabilitation: A Survey

“…A further class of HMIs is aimed at tracking the motion of different body parts, such as the eyes [43,187,188], the upper and lower limbs [189], and the head [190][191][192], via different kinds of vision devices. Eye-tracking technologies are usually based on infrared (IR) illuminators pointed at the eyes.…”

“…Maule et al proposed an eye-tracking-based HMI called RoboEye [187]. RoboEye is composed of a standard power wheelchair integrated with an innovative, cost-effective, and user-friendly control system based on an eye-tracking system, a 3D camera, and a computer monitor.…”

Influence of a Hybrid Manual–Electric Wheelchair Propulsion System on the User’s Muscular Effort

“…through the use of gears) are also subject to research and analysis [10]. However, the main development trend is the use of electric propulsion systems [11,12]. Among the many disadvantages of wheelchairs powered solely by electric motors (greater weight [13], like the control learning problems [14][15][16], and difficulties in transporting electric wheelchairs in public means of transport [17], the greatest disadvantage is the reduction of the user's motor activity.…”