Human-friendly interfaces of wheelchair robotic system for handicapped persons

With an increase in the number of handicapped persons, there is a growing demand for human friendly interface as mobility aids. To meet this need, we have developed two interfaces with using shoulder and head motion for powered wheelchair control. To acquire proper wheelchair control instruction signal, workspaces of shoulder and head are analyzed by magnetic position sensor. Two interfaces are developed to meet four guidelines :human friendly design, easiness of wearability, intuitive drive function, and low cost. FSR (force sensing resistor) is used to measure changes in the shoulder and head motion. Interface's usefulness is verified by clinical experiment with six subjects who are spinal cord injured with C4 or C5.