Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems

, Volume 41, Issue 4, pp 283–314 | Cite as

Vision-Based Navigation for an Electric Wheelchair Using Ceiling Light Landmark

  • Hongbo Wang
  • Takakazu Ishimatsu
Article

Abstract

This paper presents an autonomous wheelchair system with the capability of self-location and obstacle avoidance. The wheelchair is equipped with two TV cameras that are used for self-location and obstacle avoidance, respectively. In this system, the fluorescent ceiling lights are chosen as landmarks since they can be easily detected and do not require an additional installation. A recognition procedure of landmarks is described by which the desired landmark images in the navigational environment can be retrieved. A self-location technique using ceiling light landmarks is proposed. Using this self-location function, the wheelchair can locate itself in a world coordinate system. The path planning based on landmark and the method of generating a control scheme are presented so that the wheelchair is capable of navigating along any path from start position to goal position. A low cost and high-speed vision system for the detection and avoidance of obstacle is developed and the principal of obstacle avoidance is introduced. A number of navigation experiments are conducted for the wheelchair in an indoor environment. The experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the wheelchair system.

Key words

landmark self-localization obstacle avoidance wheelchair navigation path planning 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Armingol, J. M., de al Escalera, A., Moreno, L., and Salichs, M. A.: 2002, Mobile robot localization using a non-linear evolutionary filter, J. Adv. Robotics 16(7), 629–652. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Beattie, P. and Bishop, J. M.: 1998, Self-localization in the ‘SENARIO’ autonomous wheelchair, J. Intelligent Robotic Systems 22(3/4), 255–267. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Borenstein, J. and Koren, Y.: 1991, The vector field histogram – fast obstacle avoidance for mobile robots, IEEE Trans. Robotics Automat. 7(3), 278–288. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Borenstein, J., Everett, H. R., Feng, L., and Wahe, D.: 1997, Mobile robot positioning: sensors and techniques, J. Robotic Systems 14(4), 231–249. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Borgolte, U., Hoyer, H., Buhler, C., Heck, H., and Hoelper, R.: 1998, Architectural concepts of a semiautonomous wheelchair, J. Intelligent Robotic Systems 22(34), 233–253. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Desaulniers, G. and Villeneuve, D.: 2000, The shortest path problem with time windows and linear waiting costs, Transport. Sci. 34(3), 312–319. MATHCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Dulimarta, H. S. and Jain, A. K.: 1997, Mobile robot localization in indoor environment, Pattern Recognition 30(1), 99–111. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Gomi, T.: 1995, Subsumption architecture, J. Japan Soc. Fuzzy Theory Systems 7(5), 909–930. Google Scholar
  9. Han, M. H. and Rhee, S. Y.: 1994, Navigation control for a mobile robot, J. Robotic Systems 11(3), 167–179. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Hashimoto, T., Yamamoto, S., Aso, T., and Abe, M.: 1997, Position measurement of reference fluorescent lamps on the ceiling for autonomous vehicle navigation, Trans. ISCIE Japan 10(8), 430–439. Google Scholar
  11. Ko, J. H., Kim, W. J., and Chung, M. J.: 1996, A method of acoustic landmark extraction for mobile robot navigation, IEEE Trans. Robotics Automat. 12(3), 478–485. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Kumano, M., Ohya, A., and Yuta, S.: 2000, Obstacle avoidance of autonomous mobile robot using stereo vision sensor, in: Proc. of the 2nd Internat. Symposium on Robotics and Automation, Monterrey, pp. 497–502. Google Scholar
  13. Levine, S. P., Bell, D. A., Jaros, L. A., Simpson, R. C., Koren, Y., and Borenstein, J.: 1999, The NavChair assistive wheelchair navigation system, IEEE Trans. Rehabilitation Engrg. 7(4), 443–451. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Mabuchi, T., Nagasawa, T., Awa, K., Shiraki, K., and Yamada, T.: 1996, Development of a stair climbing mobile robot with legs and wheels, in: Proc. of Internat. Symp. on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, pp. 77–80. Google Scholar
  15. Madarasz, R. L., Heiny, L. C., Cromp, R. F., and Mazur, N. M.: 1986, The design of an autonomous vehicle for the disabled, IEEE Trans. Robotics Automat. 2(3), 117–126. Google Scholar
  16. Maeda, M., Nakayama, Y., and Murakami, S.: 1999, Navigation control of an intelligent wheelchair using fuzzy logical, Internat. J. Uncertainty Fuzziness Knowledge-Based Systems 7(4), 327–336. MATHCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Matsumoto, Y., Ino, T., and Ogasawara, T.: 2001, Development of intelligent wheelchair system with face and gaze based interface, in: Proc. of 10th IEEE Internat. Workshop on Robot and Human Communication (ROMAN 2001), Bordeaux/Paris, France, pp. 262–267. Google Scholar
  18. Mazo, M., Rodriguez, F. J., Lazaro, J. L., Urena, J., et al.: 1995, Electronic control of a wheelchair guided by voice commands, J. Control Engrg. Practice 3(5), 665–674. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Minieka, E.: 1978, Optimization Algorithms for Networks and Graphs, Marcel Dekker, New York/Basel. Google Scholar
  20. Miteran, J., Bailly, R., and Gorria, P.: 1996, Real time image segmentation using FPGA and parallel processor, in: IEEE TENCON – Digital Signal Processing Applications, Perth, Australia, pp. 233–236. Google Scholar
  21. Murakami, Y., Kuno, Y., Shimada, N., and Shirai, Y.: 2002, Collision avoidance by observing pedestrians’ faces for intelligent wheelchairs, JRSJ 20(2), 206–213. Google Scholar
  22. Se, S., Lowe, D., and Little, J.: 2002, Mobile robot localization and mapping with uncertainty using scale-invariant visual landmark, Internat. J. Robot Research 21(8), 735–758. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Sekimori, D., Usui, T., Masutani, Y., and Miyazaki, F.: 2001, High-speed obstacle avoidance and self-localization for mobile robots based on omni-directional imaging of floor region, in: RoboCup 2001, Seattle, USA, pp. 204–213. Google Scholar
  24. Shin, D. H. and Ollero, A.: 1995, Mobile robot path planning for fine-grained and smooth path specifications, J. Robotic Systems 12(7), 491–503. MATHCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Shoval, S. and Borenstein, J.: 2001, Using coded signals to benefit from ultrasonic sensor crosstalk in mobile robot obstacle avoidance, in: Proc. of the 2001 IEEE Internat. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Seoul, Korea, pp. 2879–2884. Google Scholar
  26. Suzuki, M., Dohi, T., Ji, L. H., Masamune, K., et al.: 1997, Light guidance system for an indoor autonomous wheelchair – detection of light markers based on feature values, in: JSME Annual Conf. on Robotics and Mechatronics, Kanagawa, Japan, pp. 1007–1008. Google Scholar
  27. Tahboub, K. A. and Asada, H. H.: 1999, A semiautonomous control architecture applied to robotic wheelchairs, in: Proc. of the 1999 IEEE/RSJ Internat. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Kyongju, Korea, pp. 906–911. Google Scholar
  28. Tajima, M. and Komaki, K.: 1996, Theory and Its Application of Method of Least Squares, Toyo Syoten, Tokyo. Google Scholar
  29. Wang, H. B., Ishimatsu, T., and Mian, J. T.: 1997a, Self-localization for an electric wheelchair, Internat. J. JSME 40(3), 433–438. Google Scholar
  30. Wang, H. B., Kang, C. U., Ishimatsu, T., and Ochiai, T.: 1997b, Auto-navigation on the wheel chair, Internat. J. Artificial Life Robotics 1(4), 141–146. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Weber, K., Venkatesh, S., and Kieronska, D.: 1994, Insect based navigation and its application to the autonomous control of mobile robots, in: Proc. of the Third Internat. Conf. on Automation, Robotics, and Computer Vision, Singapore, pp. 1228–1232. Google Scholar
  32. Yagi, Y., Kawato, S., and Tsuji, S.: 1994, Real-time omni-directional image sensor (COPIS) for vision-guided navigation, IEEE Trans. Robotics Automat. 10(1), 11–22. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Yanai, H. and Takane, Y.: 1980, Method of Multivariable Analysis, Tokyo. Google Scholar
  34. Yang, S. X.: 2003, Neural dynamics and computation for real-time map building and path planning of mobile robots, Dyn. Continuous Discrete Impulse Systems Ser. B 10(1), 1–17. Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer 2004

Authors and Affiliations

  • Hongbo Wang
    • 1
  • Takakazu Ishimatsu
    • 2
  1. 1.Business Development DivisionDaihen CorporationOsakaJapan
  2. 2.Department of Mechanical System EngineeringNagasaki UniversityNagasakiJapan

Personalised recommendations