Shared Control for Intelligent Wheelchairs: an Implicit Estimation of the User Intention
Dirk Vanhooydonck, Eric Demeester, Marnix Nuttin, Hendrik VAN BRUSSEL · 2003
Elderly and disabled people can experience considerable difficulties when driving an electric wheelchair, especially if they do not possess the fine steering capacities that are required to perform ‘common ’ manoeuvres, like avoiding obstacles, docking at tables, driving through doors, etc. This paper describes a possible approach to equip the wheelchair with an intelligent controller that performs low-level assistance, so wheelchair control is shared between the user and this controller. For proper operation, the controller should have a good idea of what the user wants in a particular situation, or in other words what his/her intention could be. This text focuses on an ‘implicit ’ estimation of the user’s intention. 1