Evaluation of smart electric wheelchair operation based on directional input from user and mobile robot navigation

Abstract

This paper presents a smart electric wheelchair used as a personal mobility tool (PMT), which integrates autonomous mobile robot navigation and human operation input. This PMT is implemented using an actual electric wheelchair. An experiment is conducted to evaluate the usability of the input interface and movement efficiency of the PMT; its performance is compared to that of a normal electric wheelchair operated using a joystick.