Affordable Smart Wheelchair.

Power wheelchairs (PW) are an example of an assistive technology in that they are used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of persons with disabilities [6]. As seen in [5] [3], the commercially available products do not provide any assistance beyond enhanced mobility. Furthermore, existing PW research fails at comprehensively noting an individual's challenges, such as navigating through narrow passages or fixing their broken wheelchairs. Instead, they focus mostly on novel interaction methods such as BCI, head and gaze control [9] [15]. In this paper, we explore these individual needs and show that PWs have the novel potential to become a smart wheelchair at an affordable price. Our research follows the double diamond (DD) process [2] and relies on the participatory design (PD) methodology [7], which addresses all stakeholders involved. Namely, we consider individuals with wheelchairs, the assistive technology research community, and the PW industry. For further insight we also contacted medical doctors, healthcare professionals, and non- profit organizations. We spent time getting to know these communities through interviews, surveys, demonstrations, and continuous user inputs, aligning our work to the PD tools. We found that individuals using wheelchairs overall desire safety, accessibility, and a durable design. Guided by these results, we designed a proof of concept (POC) system called the Affordable Smart Wheelchair (ASW) for indoor use. This kit implements full-autonomy in the form of indoor navigation from one room to another and to predetermined docking locations through voice control. It also has semi-autonomous functions in the form of manual joystick control augmented with real-time collision avoidance and staircase detection.