Publication result detail

Enhancing the Obstacle Avoidance Capabilities of a Smart Wheelchair

ADÁMEK, R.; BUGEJA, M.; FABRI, S.; GREPL, R.

Original Title

Enhancing the Obstacle Avoidance Capabilities of a Smart Wheelchair

English Title

Enhancing the Obstacle Avoidance Capabilities of a Smart Wheelchair

Type

Paper in proceedings (conference paper)

Original Abstract

Smart Wheelchairs (SWC) are vehicles designed specifically for people with certain mobility impairments to alleviate their difficulties in movement and interaction with their surroundings. In this paper, we focus on enhancing the obstacle avoidance capabilities of a SWC previously built at the University of Malta and also propose novel algorithms that can be employed on any other autonomous mobile robot. The improvements include the design, implementation and experimental validation of a novel path planner developed specifically for semi-autonomous movement. In this control mode, the only user input is the desired direction of movement. Our approach combines and improves elements of the Vector Field Histogram + (VFH+) and Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) algorithms. Simulations and physical experiments are used to validate and compare the proposed algorithm. To complement the obstacle avoidance capabilities of the local path planner, a new geometrical method is also presented for the detection of negative obstacles, such as holes and stairs.

English abstract

Smart Wheelchairs (SWC) are vehicles designed specifically for people with certain mobility impairments to alleviate their difficulties in movement and interaction with their surroundings. In this paper, we focus on enhancing the obstacle avoidance capabilities of a SWC previously built at the University of Malta and also propose novel algorithms that can be employed on any other autonomous mobile robot. The improvements include the design, implementation and experimental validation of a novel path planner developed specifically for semi-autonomous movement. In this control mode, the only user input is the desired direction of movement. Our approach combines and improves elements of the Vector Field Histogram + (VFH+) and Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) algorithms. Simulations and physical experiments are used to validate and compare the proposed algorithm. To complement the obstacle avoidance capabilities of the local path planner, a new geometrical method is also presented for the detection of negative obstacles, such as holes and stairs.

Keywords

DWA; obstacle avoidance; semi-autonomous mode; smart wheelchair; VFH+; VFH+DWA

Key words in English

DWA; obstacle avoidance; semi-autonomous mode; smart wheelchair; VFH+; VFH+DWA

Authors

ADÁMEK, R.; BUGEJA, M.; FABRI, S.; GREPL, R.

RIV year

2024

Released

07.12.2022

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Location

Plzeň

ISBN

978-1-6654-1040-3

Book

Proceedings of the 2022 20th International Conference on Mechatronics - Mechatronika (ME)

Pages count

7

URL

https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.ezproxy.lib.vutbr.cz/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9983446

BibTex

@inproceedings{BUT182778,
  author="Roman {Adámek} and Marvin {Bugeja} and Simon {Fabri} and Robert {Grepl}",
  title="Enhancing the Obstacle Avoidance Capabilities of a Smart Wheelchair",
  booktitle="Proceedings of the 2022 20th International Conference on Mechatronics - Mechatronika (ME)",
  year="2022",
  pages="7",
  publisher="Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers",
  address="Plzeň",
  doi="10.1109/ME54704.2022.9983446",
  isbn="978-1-6654-1040-3",
  url="https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.ezproxy.lib.vutbr.cz/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9983446"
}