Solution to a door crossing problem for an autonomous wheelchair

Abstract

This paper proposes a solution to a door crossing problem in unknown environments for an autonomous wheelchair. The problem is solved by a dynamic path planning algorithm implementation based on successive frontier points determination. An adaptive trajectory tracking control based on the dynamic model is implemented on the vehicle to direct the wheelchair motion along the path in a smooth movement. An EKF feature-based SLAM is also implemented on the vehicle which gives an estimate of the wheelchair pose inside the environment. The SLAM allows the map reconstruction of the environment for future safe navigation purposes. The entire system is evaluated in a real time simulator of a robotic wheelchair.