• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
• /
• v.20 no.9
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 2021

In this paper, an omni wheel-based electric wheelchair is proposed that can achieve safe and convenient movement and can improve the convenience of living for mobility-impaired people who cannot move on their own. Generally, mobility-impaired people are afflicted with physical health issues such as pain and secondary body deformities because they often remain seated in wheelchairs for long periods of time. Hence, an electric wheelchair is required whose posture can be changed and whose size can be adjusted according to the user's body type. Such a wheelchair should also facilitate easy change of direction (even in a narrow space) for convenient movement. In this paper, an electric wheelchair featuring omni wheels is proposed that allows posture transformation and facilitates movement in a narrow space. It is believed that the proposed wheelchair can aid in enhancing the convenience of living for mobility-impaired people.

• ETRI Journal
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.111-114
• /
• 2006

An alternative human interface enabling people with severe motor disabilities to control an assistive system is presented. Since this interface relies on the biosignals originating from the contraction of muscles on the face during particular movements, even individuals with a paralyzed limb can use it with ease. For real-world application, a dedicated hardware module employing a general-purpose digital signal processor was implemented and its validity tested on an electrically powered wheelchair. Furthermore, an additional attempt to reduce error rates to a minimum for stable operation was also made based on the entropy information inherent in the signals during the classification phase. In the experiments, most of the five participating subjects could control the target system at their own will, and thus it is found that the proposed interface can be considered a potential alternative for the interaction of the severely disabled with electronic systems.