Mechatronic Design of a Low-Cost Smart Wheelchair Controlled by Joystick and Voice Commands

Authors

  • David Bobadilla-Rendón Universidad Panamericana
  • Irvine J. Monroy-Rueda de León Universidad Panamericana
  • Gabriel Salazar-Salinas Universidad Panamericana
  • Antonio Stefan-Lepe De Soto Universidad Panamericana
  • Hiram Ponce Universidad Panamericana
  • Ernesto Moya-Albor Universidad Panamericana
  • Jorge Brieva Universidad Panamericana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13053/cys-27-2-4375

Keywords:

Mechatronics, engineering, smart wheelchair, product design, automation, inclusive health

Abstract

Elderly people have increased at an accelerated rate in recent years. In Mexico, one of the main problems affecting this population are related to disabilities, specifically limited mobility, i.e., arthritis in older adults. Different technological solutions have been proposed, such as electrical wheelchairs. However, for arthritic people, these wheelchairs are difficult to operate, lacking comfortability, and might be very expensive. In this work, we propose the development of a smart wheelchair for arthritic older adults able to move automatically and controlled by using slight manual movements of the hand and by voice commands. We followed the general methodology of a mechatronic design. A proof-of-concept model of the wheelchair was implemented. For validation, we tested the prototype in different real indoor scenarios. Results conclude that our proposed smart wheelchair complies with the user requirements, it is easy to operate, and the cost is reduced considerably. We anticipate this is a low-cost efficient smart wheelchair prototype that can be further considered for real technological solutions.

Downloads

Published

2023-06-17

Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2023): 27(2) 2023

Section

Articles

License 

Hereby I transfer exclusively to the Journal "Computación y 
Sistemas", published by the Computing Research Center (CIC-IPN),
the Copyright of the aforementioned paper. I also accept that these 
rights will not be transferred to any other publication, in any other 
format, language or other existing means of developing.
I certify that the paper has not been previously disclosed or simultaneo
usly submitted to any other publication, and that it does not contain 
material whose publication would violate the Copyright or other 
proprietary rights of any person, company or institution. I certify that 
I have the permission from the institution or company where I work or 
study to publish this work.
The representative author accepts the responsibility for the publication
of this paper on behalf of each and every one of the authors. 
This transfer is subject to the following conditions:
  • The authors retain all ownership rights (such as patent rights) of this work, except for the publishing rights transferred to the CIC, through this document.
  • Authors retain the right to publish the work in whole or in part in any book they are the authors or publishers. They can also make use of this work in conferences, courses, personal web pages, and so on.
  • Authors may include working as part of his thesis, for non-profit distribution only.