A robotics wheelchair for crowded public environment
Erwin A. Prassler, Jens Scholz, Paolo Fiorini · IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine · 2001
Describes the robotic wheelchair MAid (Mobility Aid for Elderly and Disabled People). MAid's task is to support and transport people with limited motion skills. It is based on a commercial wheelchair that has been equipped with an intelligent control and navigation system. Conversations with disabled and elderly people and with their physicians indicate that the automatic functions desired in a robotic wheelchair do not include following walls or passing doorways, but do include navigation in narrow, cluttered environments and through wide, crowded areas. MAid performs these functions.