Bilateral lower limb amputees suffer from a lack of stability when seated without prostheses due to lack of ground reaction forces through the stumps. In patients for whom ambulation is not a realistic goal, the seated-popliteal weight bearing prosthesis provides a solution for stability when seated in a wheelchair, without the problem of tibial pressure experienced with patellar-tendon-bearing...

This investigation developed the Wheelchair Users Functional Assessment (WUFA). Because no functional outcome tools exist that include many of the daily activities that are needed to be independent by individuals using manual wheelchairs, development of an appropriate tool was deemed important. Although the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) can be used to assess disability in those using a ...

he Bremen Autonomous Wheelchair project covers a variety of research issues that include spatial cognition, safe systems, and mobility assistance for the handicapped. Emphasizing one or the other of these cornerstones provides various views of the wheelchair Rolland (Fig. 1). Within the framework of the priority program " Spatial Cognition " of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the main topi...

An assistive robotic wheelchair system should allow its user to travel more efficiently and with greater ease. The robotic wheelchair system described in this thesis, Wheelesley, performs semi-autonomous navigation for its user, taking high-level directional commands and performing the low-level navigation required to avoid obstacles and stay on a safe path. The system consists of a standard el...

This study evaluated a range of portable wheelchair ramps to highlight the effect of different product features on ease of use when wheelchair users climb curbs or access vehicles. Twelve portable ramps were evaluated. Although all the ramps were designed to load powered wheelchairs into motor vehicles, they were manufactured in different designs. The ramps were based on a "singlewide" platform...

Development of new systems for disabled and elderly people’s assistance requires a multidiscip linary approach based on new technologies according to users’ needs. Intelligent wheelchairs can help this category of people to live more independently. The purpose of this paper is to propose and develop embedded control architecture for smart wheelchair monitoring, leading to gain mobility and inde...

The development of intelligent wheelchairs is a very good solution to assist severely handicapped people who are unable to operate classical electrical wheelchair by themselves in their daily activities. This paper describes the integration of a robotic simulator with our intelligent wheelchair shared control and planning modules. An adapted version of the free Cyber-Mouse robotic simulator was...

This paper describes the design of a smart, motorized, voice controlled wheelchair using embedded system. Proposed supports activation system for physically differently abled persons incorporating manual operation. represents “Voice-controlled Wheel chair” person where command controls movements wheelchair. The is given through cellular device having Bluetooth and transferred converted to strin...