Design and Development of IMU-based Head-Tilt Controlled Intelligent Wheelchair

Wheelchairs serve as one of the most efficacious and extensively used medical support equipment to assist the locomotion of individuals with motor disabilities. The existing motorized wheelchairs available on the market that comply with their needs are not only extremely expensive but also complex to design and manufacture. Furthermore, standard motorized joystick-controlled wheelchairs are functionally inadequate for people afflicted with more intricate forms of paralysis, such as quadriplegia, where there is a severe restriction of hand and limb movements. Consequently, there arises a substantial need for the development of a simple and affordable wheelchair control system with greater accessibility for people with extreme mobility impairments. This paper presents an intelligent wheelchair system that utilizes the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to harness head tilt motion for navigating the device. The system also implements automatic object detection technology that enhances patient safety through the incorporation of ultrasonic sensors. Therefore, this model proposes to overcome the cumbersome circuitry and instrumentation prevalent in conventional systems.