A Framework for Door Localization and Door Opening Using a Computer Controlled Wheelchair for People Living with Mobility Impairments

We present a framework for localizing and opening doors that fall within our current field of view, using Playbot, a computer controlled wheelchair that is equipped with vision sensors and a 6+2 degrees of freedom robotic arm. Contributions of the paper include: (i) Reliable detection of a specular door handle from close distances, where intense specularities tend to make many object detection algorithms unreliable (ii) Reliable stereo vision depth extraction of a specular door handle and subsequent opening of the door using a 6+2 degrees of freedom robotic arm. We present results demonstrating the validity of the approach and we discuss promising directions for future research.