EAGER: Refinement and Evaluation of a Robotic Wheelchair System

EAGER：机器人轮椅系统的改进和评估

• 批准号: 1541251
• 负责人: William Smart
• 金额: $ 9.17万
• 依托单位: Oregon State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-05-01 至 2017-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1541251&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Refinement; Evaluation; Robotic; Wheelchair

The interfaces used by full-time wheelchair users with ALS, quadriplegia, and similar conditions are typically single-tasking, direct control interfaces. For example, a person with ALS with whom the PI works drives his wheelchair through a combination of head- and shoulder-activated switches, and speaks with the assistance of a computer he controls with head movements. He cannot drive the chair and communicate at the same time, in the way that normally-abled people take for granted. For most of us, walking is an unconscious activity; we decide where to go in the room, and then forget about it. Adding autonomy to a powered wheelchair would allow many wheelchair users to recover some of this ability, by essentially turning the wheelchair into a robot that can take advantage of the vast body of existing software and techniques for navigating about the world. The user of such a wheelchair would select a location on a map displayed on his/her computer, and then forget about it as the wheelchair drives itself to that location, reducing the dependence on caregivers and increasing independence. The PI's goal in this exploratory project is to develop a low-cost, open-source electronics package that will provide this capability for a (somewhat arbitrary) total hardware cost of $500 since medical insurance will not pay for such a system so potential users must pay for it out-of-pocket and the PI is anxious to ensure that project outcomes will find their way into the lives of real wheelchair users. Instrumenting a wheelchair in this way will have additional benefits (e.g., knowing where the wheelchair is in the home could allow a simpler and faster interface to control home automation). And because the system will have an open software API, it will provide a common platform for researchers and developers working on assistive systems for full-time wheelchair users.To these ends, the PI has designed and implemented a prototype electronics package for Permobil powered wheelchairs, and has tested this on a Permobil M300 powered wheelchair on loan from the ALS Association of Oregon and Southwest Washington. The electronics package is mounted underneath the seat at the front of the chair on a custom-fabricated metal plate, and includes two Hokuyo laser range-finders (one on each side), a small computer mounted on the front of the chair body behind the footrest, and custom electronics to supply power from the wheelchair batteries. An Arduino microcontroller connected to the computer allows movement commands to be sent to the wheelchair through a Permobil I/O Module. Integration with ROS allows the system to build maps of the environment, to use these to localize the wheelchair, and to take advantage of extensive autonomous navigation abilities. Once the wheelchair is localized within a map, the user can provide it with a goal point either via an on-screen map-based interface or by means of a Google Glass; the chair can then autonomously navigate to that point avoiding obstacles as it goes, using the standard ROS navigation system. Preliminary trials in a cluttered office environment have been encouraging, although additional refinement of the URDF and kinematic models of the system are needed, and the localization needs to be improved by adding an IMU to the electronics package. The intellectual merit of the current work lies in three areas: understanding the design pressures behind the envisaged electronics package, if it is to be deployed on a range of powered wheelchairs in the real world; the redesign and implementation of mapping, localization, and path-planning algorithms for this setting; and designing a system that is fault-tolerant and capable of running for months and years at a time, without intervention by trained roboticists. Specific tasks will include: to improve and generalize the hardware and electronic design; to improve the localization algorithm; to improve the quality of wheelchair movement; to investigate replacements for the current laser range-finders; to document how to integrate everything onto a chair; and to build a number of additional kits.

全职轮椅用户与ALS，四肢瘫痪和类似条件的接口通常是单任务，直接控制接口。 例如，一个与ALS一起工作的ALS的人通过头部和肩部激活的开关的组合驱动轮椅，并在他控制的计算机的协助下说话。 他不能以正常能力的人们认为理所当然的方式驾驶椅子并同时进行交流。 对于我们大多数人来说，步行是一项无意识的活动。我们决定在房间去哪里，然后忘记它。 通过将轮椅转变为可以利用庞大的现有软件和技术来浏览世界的机器人，将自主权添加到动力轮椅上将使许多轮椅使用者能够恢复其中的某些能力。 这样的轮椅的用户将在其计算机上显示的地图上选择一个位置，然后在轮椅开车到该位置时忘记它，减少对看护者的依赖并增加独立性。 PI在此探索性项目中的目标是开发一个低成本的开源电子产品包，它将为（某种任意的）总硬件成本提供500美元的功能，因为医疗保险不会支付此类系统的费用，因此潜在的用户必须为其支付过多的费用，并确保PI急于确保该项目的项目能够找到真正的生活轮椅使用者的生活方式。 以这种方式仪器坐轮椅将有其他好处（例如，知道轮椅在家中的位置可以使更简单，更快的界面控制家庭自动化）。 而且，由于该系统将具有开放的软件API，因此它将为研究人员和开发人员为全职轮椅使用者提供辅助系统的共同平台。在这些目的中，PI已为Permobil驱动的轮椅设计并实施了一个原型电子套件，并已在Als Als Als Cosscoploce of Als oferegon和South Wascheston和South Waschestton的Als Als Coostaiment of Persobil M300供电的轮椅上对此进行了测试。电子包装安装在椅子正面的座椅下方，上面放在定制的金属板上，其中包括两个Hokuyo激光射程（每侧一台），一台小型计算机安装在脚架后面的椅子前面，以及用于从轮椅电池提供电源的定制电子设备。 连接到计算机的Arduino微控制器允许通过Permobil I/O模块将运动命令发送到轮椅上。 与ROS的集成使系统可以构建环境地图，使用它们来定位轮椅，并利用广泛的自主导航能力。轮椅位于地图中后，用户可以通过基于屏幕地图的接口或通过Google Glass为其提供目标点；然后，椅子可以使用标准的ROS导航系统自动导航到该点避免障碍物。 在混乱的办公环境中进行的初步试验令人鼓舞，尽管需要对系统的乌尔德F和运动运动模型进行进一步的细化，并且需要通过将IMU添加到电子产品包中来改进本地化。 当前作品的智力优点在于三个领域：如果要将其部署在现实世界中的一系列电力轮椅上，则了解所设想的电子产品包背后的设计压力；此设置的映射，本地化和路径规划算法的重新设计和实现；并设计一个容忍故障且能够一次运行数月和几年的系统，而无需训练有素的机器人主义者。 特定任务将包括：改进和推广硬件和电子设计；改善本地化算法；提高轮椅运动的质量；调查当前激光范围内引线剂的替换；记录如何将所有东西整合到椅子上；并构建许多额外的套件。