ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF A MOBILE ROBOT FOR THE FRAIL VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Gerard Lacey1, Shane MacNamara1, Helen Petrie2,
Heather Hunter3, Marianne Karlsson4, Nikos Katevas5
and Jan Rundenschöld6
1Computer Science Department, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
2Sensory Disabilities Research Unit, University of Hertfordshire, England
3National Council for the Blind of Ireland
4Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
5Zenon SA, Greece
6Euroflex System AB, Sweden
Abstract
This paper describes the development and evaluation of a novel
robot mobility aid for frail Visually Impaired People (VIPs).
Frailty makes the use of conventional mobility aids for the blind
difficult or impossible and consequently VIPs are heavily dependent
on carers for their personal mobility. In the context of a rapidly
increasing proportion of elderly in the population this level of
support may not always be available in the future. The aim of this
research is to develop a robot that will increase the independence of
frail VIPs. This paper will describe the walking aid and its overall
control system. The controller adapts its operating mode to satisfy
the constraints imposed by both the environment and the user using a
probabilistic reasoning system. The reasoning system and the software
architecture of the robot will be described in detail as will the
evaluation of the robot in a residential home for visually impaired
men.
Full Paper
Last modified: Thu Jan 21 10:38:39 PST 1999