Skip to main content
Log in

Speech and sensor in guiding an electric wheelchair

  • Published:
Automatic Control and Computer Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Many people with disabilities do not have the dexterity necessary to control a joystick on an electric wheelchair. Moreover, they have difficulty to avoid obstacles. The aim of this work is to implement a multi-modal system to control the movement of an Electric wheelchair using small vocabulary word recognition system and a set of sensors to detect and avoid obstacles. The methodology adopted is based on grouping a microcontroller with a speech recognition development kit for isolated word from a dependent speaker and a set of sensors. In order to gain in time design, tests have shown that it would be better to choose a speech recognition kit and to adapt it to the application.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. McLaurin, C.A. and Axelson P., Wheelchair Standards: An Overview, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 1990, vol. 27, pp. 100–103.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Microchip manual, PIC16F87X Data sheet 28/40-Pin 8-bit FLASH Microcontrollers, Microchip Technology Inc. 2001.

  3. Beritelli, F., Casale, S., and Cavallaro, A., A Robust Voice Activity Detector for Wireless Communications Using Soft Computing, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC), Special issue on Signal Processing for Wireless Communications, 1998, vol. 16, no. 9.

  4. Mabo, R.I. and Donadson, W.R., Zero Crossing Measurements for Phonetic Recognition of Speech, IEEEASSP, 1971, vol. 24, no. 1.

  5. Schraft, R.D., Schaeffer, C., and May, T., Care-O-bot: The Concept of a System for Assisting Elderly or Disabled Persons in Home Environments, Proc. of the 24th Annual Conference IECON98, 1998, vol. 4, pp. 2476–2481.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Huang, J., Ohnishi, N., and Sugie, N., Sound Localization in Reverberant Environment Based on the Model of the Precedence Effect, IEEE Trans. on Instrumentation and Measurement, 1997, vol. 46, pp. 842–846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Shlomot, E., Cuperman, V., and Gersho, A., Hybrid Coding of Speech at 4 Kbps, Proc. IEEE Workshop on Speech Coding, Pocono Manor, PA, 1997, pp. 37–38.

  8. Wang, T. and Cuperman, V., Robust Voicing Estimation with Dynamic Time Warping, Proc. IEEE ICASSP’98, 1998, pp. 533–536.

  9. Rao, Rose, K., and Gersho, A., Deterministically Annealed Design of Speech Recognizers and Its Performance on Isolated Letters, Proc. IEEE ICASSP’98, 1998, pp. 461–464.

  10. Sensory, Data sheet for RSC-364, Sensory Inc., 2001.

  11. Design notes, Selecting an Interactive Speech Chip, 80-0078-C, Sensory, Inc., 2001.

  12. Graf, B., Reactive Navigation of an Intelligent Robotic Walking Aid, in Proc. of Roman, 2001, pp. 353–358.

  13. Rimon, E. and Koditschek, D.E., Exact Robot Navigation Using Artificial Potential Functions, IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, 1992, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 501–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Mazo, M., Rodriguez, F., Lazaro, J., Urena, J., Garcia, J., Santiso, E., Revenga, P., and Garcia, J., Wheelchair for Physically Disabled People with Voice, Ultrasonic and Infrared Sensor Control, Autonomous Robots, 1995, vol. 2, pp. 203–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Wang, H., Ishimatsu, T., and Mian, J., Self-Localization for an Electric Wheelchair, JSME International Journal, Series C-Mechanical Systems Machine Elements and Manufacturing, 1997, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 433–438.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Cooper, R.A., Widman, L.M., Jones, D.K., and Robertson, R.N., Force Sensing Control for Electric Powered Wheelchairs, IEEE Trans. Control Syst. Technol., 2000, vol. 38, pp. 112–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Cooper, R.A., Jones, D.K., Fitzgerald, S., Boninger, M.L., and Albright, S.J., Analysis of Position and Isometric Joysticks for Powered Wheelchair Driving, IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng., 2000, vol. 47, no. 7, pp. 902–910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Wasson, G., Gunderson, J., Graves, S., and Felder, R., Effective Shared Control in Cooperative Mobility Aids, Proc. of the 14th International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference, Key West, Florida, Menlo Park (CA): AAAI Press, 2001, pp. 509–518.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Simpson, R.C., Poirot, D., and Baxter, F., The Hephaestus Smart Wheelchair System, IEEE Trans. on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2002, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 118–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

The text was submitted by the authors in English.

About this article

Cite this article

Fezari, M., Bousbia-Salah, M. Speech and sensor in guiding an electric wheelchair. Aut. Conrol Comp. Sci. 41, 39–43 (2007). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0146411607010063

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0146411607010063

Keywords

Navigation