Reactive navigation of an intelligent robotic walking aid

This work presents the intelligent walking aid system Care-O-bot. Care-O-bot is the prototype of a multifunctional home care system, to be used by elderly people in order to live independently in their homes. In order to enable easy manipulation of the robot platform, the way to use it as a walking aid has been adapted to conventional walking aid systems. The robot drives in reaction to input forces given by the user, for example if the user "pushes" the robot forward, it will start moving in the required direction. As an improvement to conventional walking aid systems, intelligent behaviours, as for example autonomous obstacle avoidance and path planning are included.