Mobility assistance system for an electric wheelchair using annotated maps

An electric wheelchair is very useful for physically challenged or elderly people. A electric wheelchair can be equipped with a computer and sensors such as cameras and LIDARs to make it a robotic wheelchair. This opens the possibility to reduce the burden and increase the comfort of the users with use of robotics technology. In this paper, we begin with a dynamic shared control and propose to use a map with annotations to increase the user’s comfort while keeping safety. We provide a system with localization, which can relate the current position of the wheelchair to the annotations. Both quantitative evaluation and subjective survey demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

微机测控保护装置中电气计量系统设计

主要介绍一种微机测控保护装置中电能参数计量系统的设计方法。该设计采用LPC1788、ATT7022、AD7606为核心处理器件,ATT7022负责对装置中各项电能参量进行精确计算,LPC1788和AD7606负责装置保护电气参量的快速计算,运行保护控制程序,同时读取ATT7022电能参量计算结果。     

Active vision for controlling an electric wheelchair

Most of the electric wheelchairs available in the market are joystick-driven and therefore assume that the user is able to use his hand motion to steer the wheelchair. This does not apply to many users that are only capable of moving the head like quadriplegia patients. This paper presents a vision-based head motion tracking system to enable such patients of controlling the wheelchair. The novel approach that we suggest is to use active vision rather than passive to achieve head motion tracking. In active vision-based tracking, the camera is placed on the user’s head rather than in front of it. This makes tracking easier, more accurate and enhances the resolution. This is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. The proposed tracking scheme is then used successfully to control our electric wheelchair to navigate in a real world environment.     

Incorporating wheelchair users in people detection

Multimedia Tools and Applications - A wheelchair users detector is presented to extend people detection, providing a more general solution to detect people in environments such as houses adapted...     

A multiprogramming system for a microcomputer

A multiprogramming operating system nucleus has been constructed for a microcomputer. An account is given of the implementation, analysing the problems encountered, the magnitude of the effort required and the performance characteristics. The aim is to aid other implementors by drawing attention to those aspects of the work likely to be characteristic of microcomputer implementations in general.     

A microcomputer database system for facilities design

A data base management system which is dedicated to plant layout type data, and should be useful to the practicing industrial engineer, is presented. The data items utilized in the data base for this microcomputer software represent only a minimal subset of the data which one would want for the creation of a proper, industrial facility design; however, they were felt to represent a good starting point for the creation of a microcomputer data base system which would aid a layout engineer. The Knowledgeman software (Micro Data Base Systems, Inc.) was used for this project; it consists of a relational database and an electronic spreadsheet. Two plant layout examples are presented to demonstrate the use of the software.     

A microcomputer system for processing natural languages

This correspondence describes a microcomputer system, called ?BE (for microprocessor-based English), for processing natural languages. Its techniques and facilities, however, should be extendible to other languages. By using the microprocessor as special purpose hardware for several functions of a natural language processor (in particular, hashing and parsing), the system aids computational linguists by increasing the computational power available for natural language investigations. An overview of ?BE is given followed by a more detailed discussion of the hasher and parser. The paper concludes with specific applications of the microprocessor system to computational linguistics. ?BE is not based on a particular theory of language so that the system's user may define his own theory and investigate its consequences. ?BE contains facilities and capabilities to assist such investigations.     

A microcomputer data-acquisition system for ground-based reflectance measurements

A microcomputer data logger, using a Synertek SYM-1 microcomputer based on a 6502 series microprocessor, is described for the collection of spectral reflectance data from ground-based radiometers. The system was battery-powered with up to 16 analog input channels, a real-time clock, an alpha-numeric keyboard and a video display. The control program, written in BASIC, allowed for variations of the sampling pattern to suit various experimental designs. Timing, data acquisition, and housekeeping routines which required faster execution speeds were written in Assembly language. Hardware and software are described and a listing of programs is given in the appendix.     

Time and force required for attendants boarding wheelchair users onto aircraft

Ensuring equal opportunity to all transport modes, including air travel, allows disabled people the same freedom of travel available to the rest of the population. However, boarding of wheelchair users onto airplanes is physically demanding for attendant airline or airport personal whom assist and time consuming and costly for airlines. This paper presents a comparison between two methods of boarding wheelchair users, measuring the forces required and the duration taken. Participants were asked to act as attendants and to board weighted wheelchairs onto simulated aircraft vestibules using two different manoeuvre methods (“going forwards” and “going backwards”), with two different loadings (“light” and “heavy”) in two different access scenarios (“level access” and “sloped access”) between the jet-way/scissor-lift and the aircraft. The results reveal that the “going backwards” technique is a slightly faster manoeuvre method but no difference in the forces required exist between the two methods. The weight of the wheelchair affected the forces required to complete the boarding and exceeded health and safety guidelines for attendants. Reducing the height of the step between the aircraft and the jet-way or scissor-lift is recommended.Relevance to industryThe research highlights the juxtaposition between the need to board wheelchair users and the excessive force required by the attendants propelling the wheelchair.     

A decentralised microcomputer based system for remote data collection

A decentralised data acquisition system for remote data collection is presented. The system has been implemented in the collection of environment data for subsequent analysis of thermal pollution along the coastline of a large industrial area in Kuwait. The main features of the system are its extensive use of microcomputers in remote data collection and storage and the interrogation of these microcomputers by a minicomputer based station for permanent storage and processing. Normal system operation is “near” real time in that the data collected are available for analysis and processing after a relatively short period of time. The system offered a practical approach to hydrographic monitoring in deep waters and under difficult environmental conditions. Results on the system performance are presented.     

A satellite graphics system for error-prone users

A system is described which is used at Florida International University in support of an undergraduate course in interactive computer graphics. The equipment configuration consists of an IMLAC PDS-4 with 8K of memory connected to a UNIVAC 1106 via a 1200 baud asynchronous communications line. In addition, a simple unbuffered and unintelligent alphanumeric CRI terminal (a Beehive model II) is connected to another I/O port on the IMLAC PDS-4 via a 1200 baud interface. The GCS system is used on the host 1106 for the students. Because of the numerous errors committed by the beginning students, the problem exists of numerous unexpected program errors, dumps and of the need for debugging information to be presented to the students, all without effecting the graphical display. The graphical data sent from the UNIVAC 1106 is encoded in such a way that the software in the IMLAC PDS-4 can separate out any non-graphical data sent, no matter where it appears in the output stream. The non-graphical output is then displayed on the auxiliary terminal. This allows the students to include debugging output and also to receive and analyze error messages, dumps and the like while maintining the integrity of any graphical output also produced by their programs. This system has proved especially useful for error-prone beginning students, at minimal costs and with no modifications to the EXEC-8 operating system.     

A microcomputer based system for teaching direct digital control

A microcomputer based system specifically developed for illustrating basic concepts of Direct Digital Control (DDC) is presented. The system is implemented using a readily available microcomputer and is supported by a set of menu-driven and user-friendly software with graphics capabilities. The suitability of the system for teaching purposes is illustrated through its real-time applications to a DC servo-motor, a process trainer and a coupled tanks apparatus. Samples of results obtained are presented.     

A microcomputer based adaptive regulator for power system applications

The paper presents the design of an adaptive regulator for excitation control of a synchronous generator connected to an infinite bus through a double-circuit transmission line. The regulator, which is derived by simplification of the well known minimum-variance self-tuning controller, uses a variable forgetting factor stochastic approximation variant of the recursive least-square parameter estimator. This low order self-tuning algorithm is based on 3-parameter identification and is suitable for implementation with a single-chip microcomputer having restricted processing power, limited on-chip program storage and limited on-chip data storage capabilities. Simulation results are presented for a sample power system which is subjected to disturbances such as 3-phase short circuits, changes in terminal voltage and stochastic load variations. Tests using an LSI-11/23 microcomputer show acceptable performance in eliminating steady state errors and adapting rapidly to any changes in system operating conditions.     

A pilot study of a method for assessing the reach capability of wheelchair users for safety belt design

A method was developed to assess the reach capability of people seated in wheelchairs for purposes of establishing design and placement requirements for safety belts used by vehicle occupants who are seated in wheelchairs. The method uses simple technology and is intended to be readily implemented in the field. Participants use a marker to draw their acceptable reach zone on a vertical surface placed adjacent to the wheelchair. A pilot study with 10 wheelchair users showed that the method generates easily interpreted data quickly. Even with a small number of participants, the results from the pilot study provide useful information for designers of restraint systems for wheelchair-seated vehicle occupants.     

A microcomputer method for continuous system simulation in health care

A method for continuous system simulation in biomedicine and health care intended for use with personal computers is described. The method is applicable to multistate deterministic models and based on the use of standard spreadsheet programs used with such computers. It includes features such as model implementation, changes of simulation parameters, execution of simulation experiments as well as tabular and graphic presentation of simulation results. The method can be used for simulation of systems in epidemiology, health-care organization and other biomedical fields where deterministic models are suitable tools for studying phenomena connected with live systems.     

脑控智能轮椅控制系统

为身体高度瘫痪的残疾人士能够自由移动,提出了一种基于脑机接口实验平台BCI2000的自发想象控制轮椅的新方法。该控制系统主要由Emotiv脑电采集装置、一台笔记本电脑、一个单片机控制器组成,对采集的信号进行时频特征分析,并利用改进的感知器算法对信号进行分类。利用提示被试者想象左右手运动的脑电信号特征,实现对轮椅的左转和右转的控制,对今后进一步研究轮椅的精确控制系统具有重要的指导意义。     

Speech and sensor in guiding an electric wheelchair

Many people with disabilities do not have the dexterity necessary to control a joystick on an electric wheelchair. Moreover, they have difficulty to avoid obstacles. The aim of this work is to implement a multi-modal system to control the movement of an Electric wheelchair using small vocabulary word recognition system and a set of sensors to detect and avoid obstacles. The methodology adopted is based on grouping a microcontroller with a speech recognition development kit for isolated word from a dependent speaker and a set of sensors. In order to gain in time design, tests have shown that it would be better to choose a speech recognition kit and to adapt it to the application. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

A decision support system for investment planning on a microcomputer

A Decision System (DSS) for investment planning was designed and implemented for Pohang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (POSCO), using a database management system on an MS-DOS micro-computer. This paper outlines the design of an investment DSS which focuses on mid- and long-term investments. It also considers why such an investment DSS is needed at POSCO, discusses problems encountered in designing the DSS, and establishes decision criteria for determining investment priorities. The modelbase proposed uses the concepts of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Zero-Base Budgeting (ZBB), along with an appropriate scoring method, database and dialogue system to support the investment manager in evaluating investment proposals. Results of implementing the investment DSS are discussed.     

A microcomputer based data acquisition system for hot wire anemometry

A microcomputer based data acquisition system for hot wire anemometry has been developed as an alternative to conventional analogue systems. The system is capable of acquiring data on four channels simultaneously at acquisition rates of up to 13 kHz with 12 bit resolution. Subsequent processing of the data is performed by software and enables the calculation of mean velocity, Reynolds normal and shear stresses, autocorrelation coefficient, integral time and length scales, and Fast Fourier Transform of the turbulence quantities. Compared with the conventional analogue systems, the digital system offers significant advantages in cost, flexibility, convenience, and immunity from electrical noise and drift.