Robotic assistance: an automatic wheelchair tracking and following functionality by omnidirectional vision

Robotic researches can contribute to the restoration of some functions lost by handicapped people. The over-cost generated by the additive potentialities must be affordable and related to the value of the usual product. In most cases, autonomous functions are direct transpositions of solutions applied in industrial robotics. If we consider that in addition with cost, security is a supplementary constraint of rehabilitation robotics, an important research effort is needed to propose technological components. The aim of this paper is to introduce a functionality within the context of the following plan: "technical achievement and psychological analysis of a master/slave robot assistance for the invalid person" (HTSC: human/technology complex system). This application allows a severely handicapped person to handle at the same time a movable platform and a Manus/spl reg/ arm. In this paper, we will present an "automatic tracking" functionality we developed in order to keep the Manus/spl reg/ arm automatically close to the patient.