Design of Wheelchair based on Electrooculography

The number of disable people are increasing at a rapid rate, disability to control limbs due to accidents or inherently are major cause of immobility. Immobility hinders daily activities and leads to social restrictions which isolate them from the rest. Various techniques like mechanized wheelchair have been designed for quadriplegic people. In this paper we have proposed a prototype design of an automated wheelchair using electrooculography (EOG) signal. The performance of the proposed prototype is cost effective since EOG signal acquisition is done using Arduino Uno and Leonardo. Eye movement can be used to monitor various simple tasks by the physically challenged persons. This paper describes the acquisition and analysis of EOG signals using Arduino resulting in movement of the prototype in the forward and backward direction. This proposed design here uses few electrodes for signal acquisition which reduces the chance of occurrence of artifacts and interference, also a simple circuit design for signal acquisition using Arduino makes it cost effective for the patients who cannot afford costly automated wheelchairs. The standing potential difference between the eyes can be estimated by measuring the voltage induced by external battery across a system of electrodes placed around the eyes as the eye-gaze changes, thus obtaining the EOG. This proposed design can be used as an assistive device for monitoring and performing various small activities by paralyzed people with ease. It is a cost effective and simple design.