A Smart Electric Wheelchair with Multipurpose Health Monitoring System

Abstract

With the growing number of physically disabled person in the present age, the usage of wheelchair has become unprecedented. Electric autonomous smart wheelchairs have emerged as the go to caring module for the disabled people. The proposed electric health monitoring smart wheelchair system is intended to be an all-in-one electric wheelchair that surpasses its previous predecessors. It allows the user to independently move around both indoor and outdoor using 3 different mode of operation – gesture control for controlling via neck movement, Joystick control & voice command module. It is incorporated with ultrasonic sonar edge detection module & obstacles detection both front and back to ensure safety of the patient. A variety of sensors such as heart rate sensor, PIR sensor, load cell, temperature & humidity detection are attached to keep monitoring the patient while he/she is sitting on the wheelchair. In the event of any accident or anomaly in the health monitoring data, the system will notify the relative and affiliated medical institution via SMS combined with GPS location. The proposed wheelchair system also incorporates retractable solar panel to charge the battery while operating outdoors. The proposed prototype model has been tested in a local area and the practical simulation data gained is promising. As a whole, the proposed prototype has a great deal to offer to the disabled population.