Proposal for an Ambient Assisted Wheelchair (A2W)

This work presents a proposal for an Ambient Assisted Wheelchair (A2W). Such a vehicle could collect useful information provided by Intelligent Environments equipped with appropriate wireless services. Two different networks have been considered for this tasks: a standard Wi-Fi network that will allow a connection to Internet Services providing building accessibility information; and a specific sensor network able to provide indoor location. The Buildings Accessibility Information Service (BAIS) is aimed for providing route planning in unknown indoor environments. BAIS system is based on a set of XML description files that contain all the information needed to access public or private buildings: floor maps, accessibility information, available routes and calibration landmarks. Sensor Network (SN) is based on a set of wireless nodes equipped with ZigBee devices; RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) from fixed nodes are used to compute an approximate 3D location that reinforces vehicle positioning inside buildings. Both resources BAIS and SN (when installed) could provide valuable information to any kind of user inside unknown environments, although best performances will be achieved with A2W units.